If you’ve been in a car accident, you know that involving your insurance company is usually unavoidable. You’ve contacted your representative; now you’re prepared to sit back and wait for the company to handle your situation. Everything is fine until you get the notice the insurance company denied your claim.
Why would your car insurance company deny your claim? Your claim could actually be denied for a number of reasons, sometimes for the simple reason that you failed to compare car insurance companies before buying your policy, and ended up with an insurer that offers poor customer service.
1. You didn’t fully disclose all necessary information.
Whether it was intentional or not, if you don’t give all the information your insurance company needs, your claim can be denied due to nondisclosure. Some of the information that isn’t properly provided often includes:
· Previous driving offences
· Previous insurance claims
· Existing damage to the vehicle
2. The type of loss you experienced isn’t covered because of an exclusion clause.
Many insurance companies protect themselves with exclusion clauses. This means that if your vehicle doesn’t meet certain criteria, the insurance company has grounds to deny your claim. Some common situations that may be represented by an exclusion clause are:
· An unlicensed driver or driver under 25 years of age
· Modifications made to the car that are potentially illegal
· Driving a vehicle that isn’t road worthy
· Driving while intoxicated
3. The insurance company thinks you may have committed fraud.
Unfortunately, insurance fraud is a very real problem, and adjusters are always on the lookout for fraudulent claims. Whether intentional or not, some of your actions may cause an adjuster to take a closer look at your claim and mark it as fraudulent. To avoid triggering any red flags:
· Speak calmly and politely
· Gather statements from witnesses
· Provide every detail that might have bearing on your case
If you find that you’re under investigation for fraud, cooperate fully. If the company drags out the investigation or continues to be suspicious despite your best efforts to prove your case, consider seeing legal help. You need not worry about being convicted of fraud because an insurance company must have an extremely solid case to prosecute. If you are innocent, you won’t face legal problems. However, unnecessary delays caused by the investigation are unfair and you should fight for your rights.
4. Your policy was cancelled.
If you failed to pay your premium on time, your policy may have been cancelled. You could also be cancelled because the insurance company received information that made them believe you were too much of a risk to cover.
Now What?
If you believe that your claim was denied unfairly, you may be able to appeal. Follow these steps to properly appeal the denial and be sure you have the greatest chance of success:
· Read your policy, especially the declarations page. You need to know what you are entitled to, according to your policy.
· Keep all your bills and receipts. Add them up and know what your actual out-of-pocket costs were. Be ready to prove it with your receipts.
· Prepare to negotiate. Even if your claim is accepted, your insurance company is going to try to pay as little as possible. Know how much your claim is worth.
· If necessary, seek legal advice. You are going against a company with many insurance negotiating claims. It might be helpful to have someone on your side with that same kind of experience.
CarInsuranceQuotesComparison.com wants to be sure you understand the claims process so you can get the best outcome for your denied claim.
