December 10, 2010

What To Do If Your Auto Insurance Company Declares You At Fault

While seeking an auto insurance quote, we hardly think about the backend procedure involved in the claims process. Sometimes, an auto insurance company may reject your claim, blaming you for the at fault accident. Just because your claim was rejected, does not mean that you have to accept the denial letter whole-heartedly. When we search for auto insurance quote, we hope to attain a policy that can cover our losses during dire situations. We assume that the insurance provider will live up to the contract.

However, if you believe that the insurance company has wrongly blamed you for the at fault accident, then you should perform certain actions to ensure that you receive fair compensation. First and foremost, you need to go through the denial letter. Although the insurance company may blame you entirely for the at fault accident, you will have to see if there was any error or misinformation absorbed by the insurance company.

You can contact the insurance provider to let them know about their mistake. It's a must that you file an immediate appeal with them. You will have to produce relevant evidences to back your claims. Another option would be to appeal the insurance provider's decision with the State's Insurance Commissioner. If you see that the insurance company is not co-operating with you, then you can consult an attorney, especially when you think that the claim proceedings have not been conducted fairly.

As a last resort, you can sue the insurance provider for breach of contract. Consulting a good attorney who deals with relevant cases is a must to ensure that your case is handled appropriately and in a timely fashion. In some cases, filing a suit works best because most companies do not want to create a bad name in the market. As a claimant, you need to ensure that everything is in writing to facilitate the legal proceedings. The court relies on documentation as official evidences. You can request all the documents in advance such as the certified copy of the insurance policy, denial letter etc in advance so that they can be produced before the court of law, whenever required.

Going through the legal proceedings can be a daunting process especially without substantial evidence and documentation. So, make sure that you have valid grounds to sue the company, or else you will only end up creating a bigger mess. While seeking an auto insurance quote, we never hope to get into the legal turmoil. However, life might take us by surprise upon claim denial by the insurance provider. You should ensure that you deal only with reputable insurance providers to avoid unwanted hassles in the near future.