Allstate - Good Hands Drop Insured in Grease

Allstate spends millions and millions of dollars in advertising to convince people that they are there for them when they are needed. The good hands people. My experience is that Allstate continually denies or undervalues valid claims which results in their insured being sued. If that is not bad enough, many times they file answers which deny facts that their own insured later admits in their sworn testimony. The sad part is that this is so common that most attorneys are not even surprised at the tactic. This action not only results in their insured being sued for an accident which everyone knows was their fault, causing them to miss work and go through the stress of litigation but can result in the Allstate insured potentially being personally liable for a large verdict in excess of the policy limits. That is exactly what happened in Houston this week.
A young girl was hit by a man who ran a red light. He was insured by Allstate. The police listed him as the cause of the crash. She had over $16k in past medical and needed additional medical care which would cost $22,500.00 which was undisputed. The Allstate insured only had $25,000.00 in insurance coverage which the girl offered to accept. Allstate refused. Their insured gets sued, has to answer discovery, give a deposition, miss work and stress over this lawsuit. The day the trial is to start the lawyer for the young girl offers again to settle for the policy limits which would not only end the lawsuit, but protect the Allstate insured from any risk of an excess verdict. You would think they would jump at the chance to settle and protect their insured. That is why we pay premiums and they are the "good hands" company. Allstate instead choose to offer $12, 500.00, which was refused. Jump to the next day, the jury returns and find the man 100% at fault and a verdict against in for $202,942.70. Now he faces the possibility of being personally liable for almost $200,000.00 all because Allstate decided to refuse to settle a claim that anyone who has any sense knew they owed. If you are in a wreck, never assume that your insurance company is going to do what is in your best interest. Require them to copy you on all letters and offers. In the last few years we have had more and more situations in which we have represented the insureds personally to make sure the insurance company did what they should to protect their insured. Will Allstate take notice and begin to fairly evaluate claims to protect their insureds from being sued? I doubt it. Based upon their history, I would expect them to just increase the advertising budget, blame the juries, judges and lawyers. Anything but take responsibility. Why should they when they can just drop their insured in the grease. Let me know your comments.

Car Crash Basics Part II

When you go to the doctor or hospital, ask for a copy of your medical and billing records for your file. Keep all your documents relating to the crash in one place for easy reference and to make sure you are not missing anything later when you are in a position to settle your case. A couple of other items which you should try and get as soon as possible are the crash report and 911 tapes. You should have received some case information from the police officer who came to the scene. That will give you the information you need to order a copy of the report. When you order it (you can usually go down and pick-up a copy) make sure you pay the dollar or so extra and get a certified copy. When you get it make a copy and keep the original safe. When you are ordering the crash report ask for a copy of any 911 calls for your wreck. Generally they are only kept a short time, so do this early. The last thing for this segment is to go take some pictures of the scene where the wreck happened to show what it looked like. Also look for any skid marks, etc. on the road and take pictures of those as well. Next time we will discuss what information you can get from the crash report and 911 tapes and how to use them.

Car Crash Case Basics - Part 1

If you are in a wreck here are some things to consider. First, get the names, addresses and phone numbers of everyone involved and any witnesses. Ask to see the drivers license to verify they are who they claim (some people will lie). Ask to see a copy of insurance information and write down all information. Take pictures of the vehicle positions, roadway and damage. No camera, use your cell phone. If you are injured get to a doctor. Do not give any statements (except to the police). If the other drivers insurance company asks you for a statement, I would suggest you ask them what their driver is claiming, if it is not what happened, they are probably preparing a defense and will ask questions designed to hurt your case. If their driver agrees with your position, why do they need your statement. Do not sign any authorizations. You can provide any medical records and bills they need and there is no reason for them to get access to your entire life history. If you have any questions call a lawyer, the consultation is usually free and you can get some piece of mind, in addition to good information.