All too often, people trust their insurance company. After all, for years, you have been making a large monthly payment to a “trusted” name in insurance with no issues or claims. You assume that when you need them, they will be there to help you and make your life normal.
When you need to make a claim, you call the insurance company. They are friendly. They ask if you are injured. They ask to record your conversation – just for record keeping. They assure you everything will be alright.
Did you spot the lie they made to you?
They are not recording your story just for record keeping. They are recording your story to use it in the claims process, to ensure your story is straight and doesn’t change over time.
In most cases, this is not damaging as most insurance claims are not complicated. But, if you were in a heightened state of emotions after an incident requiring a claim, you may not have all the facts correct, or there may be circumstances that you were unaware of at the time.
It is the best practice to ask for them not to record your first conversation. They will say it is required – but it is not. Don’t fall for their mistruths.
The attorneys at The Orlando Law Group have a long history of working with clients on their property insurance claims. If you live in Orlando, Winter Garden, Altamonte Springs, Kissimmee or anywhere throughout Central Florida, The Orlando Law Group is ready to help you.
Remember, insurance companies are not your friend
Insurance companies are some of the most profitable businesses in the United States. For instance, Progressive’s group of insurance companies had a profit of just over $3 billion in 2023. Geico had pre-tax profits of nearly $4 billion in 2023.
You might look at that and think they have plenty of money to cover your $200,000 claim for damage to your house.
However, insurance companies did not get to this point of profits by giving out large claims as much as possible. Instead, they would like to pay as little as possible and they play off the fact that most people do not understand the process, are emotional after an incident, and want to return to life as soon as possible.
There are tricks we have seen repeatedly from insurance companies, like saying they require a recorded call. It is important to make sure you do not fall for their trap.
They say you don’t need to talk to an attorney
Make no mistake. Your insurance company does not want you bringing on The Orlando Law Group to fight on your behalf.
While technically you don’t need an attorney, the goal of the insurance company is to not talk to someone who has experience in these types of claims. They want to prey on the fact that most people do not know what to look for.
But the attorneys at The Orlando Law Group know this is coming. Several of our attorneys started practicing law representing insurance companies and other businesses looking to avoid paying consumers who make claims.
We’ve seen all the tricks coming and know how to counter their arguments on your behalf. They will do anything possible to not pay your claim.
Insurance companies know how to play on your emotions
Anyone who has filed a claim for property or car insurance knows it is a stressful time. Maybe you can’t live in your house after the damage. Maybe you do not have transportation to get to your job. Maybe your clothes were all ruined in a flood.
Damage requiring an insurance claim is the first step in regaining your former life and you want it back as quickly as possible.
That’s why insurance companies will offer a small settlement hoping you will want something to start over.
Don’t take it.
This first settlement offer is almost always much lower than where they are going to end up, but they know most people will jump at the first settlement offer and after that is accepted, there is no recourse if the payment is too small or future damage is found later – even the very next day.
Finding any way to get out of paying
An insurance company will look for any way to get out of paying you what you deserve. They will look for liability issues that you may have not known of. They could look at past damage and say the current incident did not cause the damage. They will review the fine print – knowing you did not – and pull out all the loopholes.
One of the newer ways to avoid paying a claim is to look at your social media posts to find any images or posts of you doing something that counters your claim – like trying a TikTok dance after saying you could not walk without a cane.
Most certainly, they will go through all recordings of their conversation looking for any sort of discrepancy that might say you are not telling the truth.
All of this is why you need to have an attorney represent you for property insurance claims. Without that experience, you are at a disadvantage against the experts at the insurance companies.
The attorneys at The Orlando Law Group can help property owners in Orlando, Waterford Lakes, Altamonte Springs, Winter Garden, Lake Nona, St. Cloud, Kissimmee, and throughout Central Florida.
If you have questions about anything discussed in this article or other legal matters, give our office a call at 407-512-4394 or fill out our online contact form to schedule a consultation to discuss your case. We have an office conveniently located at 12301 Lake Underhill Rd, Suite 213, Orlando, FL 32828, as well as offices in Seminole, Osceola and West Orange counties to assist you.
The articles on this blog are for informative purposes only and are no substitute for legal advice or an attorney-client relationship. If you are seeking legal advice, please contact our law firm directly.
Last Updated on May 2, 2024 by The Orlando Law Group
