It’s a natural reaction to call your insurance company as soon as you have been involved in an accident of any type. You have more than likely been paying your premiums for years and once an accident has occurred, it is time to get a little something back for all the money that you have invested over time. While informing your insurance company is definitely a step you should take, as soon as reasonably possible, is moving ahead with a formal insurance claim your best course of action? Maybe, but maybe not.
As with most situations where the law is concerned, it will, of course, depend on the particulars of each individual case. However, you should be aware that there are times when filling an insurance claim may not be in your best interest. In fact, there are times when filing a claim could actually cost you major bucks.
Subrogation
A standard part of most insurance claims are what is called subrogation agreements. Subrogation is just a fancy way of saying that you give up your right to make any recovery, in the case and assign those rights exclusively to the insurance company.
This might not be such a bad situation in most cases, where your interest and theirs will be perfectly aligned. After all, they are your insurance company and they have a lot more experience and legal firepower at their disposal than you do, right?
Just remember, unless you are a stockholder, it is not your insurance company. You are their client, but whatever serves the company’s best interest is going to be the course of action they will take. How it will affect your life is of little, if any, interest to them.
Follow along in this example.
I’ll use a motorcyclist here because they are more likely to be injured in these situations. Let’s say you are riding your bike down a city street when someone playing Pokemon Go comes running out in front of you and you are forced to lay down your ride.
Thanks to your quick actions, they suffer minor injuries, but your ride suffers major damage and you tear up a knee. If you file a claim with your insurance company, assuming you have collision coverage, they will pay for your bike, minus your deductible. That is where it will end.
With the help of a personal injury attorney, you could receive:
- Payment of all your medical expenses including future costs
- All the cost of having your ride repaired.
- Lost wages
- Disability compensation
- Compensation for mental anguish
- Punitive damages due to the negligence behavior of the pedestrian
- And much more…
The point of all this is that it is in the best interest of the insurance company to close this case quickly and with a minimum of fuss. There is really very little that they can hope to gain by trying to recover damages from the Pokemonier and your losses aren’t their concern.
In a case like this, your best move is to forego your insurance claim, hire a personal injury attorney who will fight to protect your rights and best interest, and seek compensation through the litigation process.