Techniques not found in claims manuals

• Author: David Frangiamore
• Pages: 411-440

TECHNIQUES

8-1

CHAPTER 8

TECHNIQUES NOT FOUND

IN CLAIMS MANUALS

§800 THE CLAIMS REPRESENTATIVE HAS THE POWER

§810 LOWBALLINGPAYING LESS THAN WHAT IS KNOWN TO BE OWED

§811 Lowballing the Claimant

§812 Lowballing the Attorney

§813 Lowballing and Forcing an Arbitration

§814 Lowballing the Property Damage Claim and Its Effect on Personal Injury Damages

§814.1 Handling Propert y Claim Gratis

§814.2 To Recover Fee, Ask Client for Lien

§814.3 Why Insurers Behaving Badly Lowball Property Claims

§814.4 One Adjuster for Both Claims

§814.5 Insurer’s Strategy for Reducing Property and Bodily Injury Payouts

§814.6 Misleading Photos

§814.7 Ignoring Hidden Damage

§814.8 Incomplete Appraisals

§814.9 Insured’s Vehicle Damaged While Client’s Is Not

§814.10 Total Loss Payout

§814.11 Unrealistic Costs for Parts

§815 Forcing Policyholders to Sue to Get Coverage to Which They Are Entitled

§820 UNREASONABLE DELAYS

§821 The Indicators of Poor Claims Management

§830 STONEWALLINGFRIEND OR FOE, YOU GET NO DOUGH!

§831 “Benef‌its Delayed” Are “Benef‌its Denied”

§831.1 Unfair Leveraging

§831.2 Excess Coverage

§831.3 Economic Pressure

§831.4 Claims Maze

§831.5 Need Insured’s Cooperation First

§831.6 Nickel and Dime the Claimant

§831.7 Vanishing Claim Adjusters

§831.8 Some Now —All Later

§831.9 Waiting for the Insured’s Contribution

§831.10 Setting Up the Claimant

§831.11 Fabricated Denial

TECHNIQUES

How Insurance Companies Settle Cases 8-2

§832 Stonewalling the Attorney

§833 Stonewalling the Insured

§834 Improper Use of a Shadow Adjuster

§840 INTIMIDATION

§841 Retaliation

§842 Attacking the Claimant or Claimant’s Counsel

§843 Social Duress and Blackmail

§850 DIGGING INTO THE SETTLEMENT TECHNIQUE GRAB BAG

§850.1 Oppor tune Settlement Times and Seasonal Settlements

§850.2 Guidelines for Waiver of Bad Faith Claims in Settlements

§850.3 Backlog Settlements

§850.4 Nuisance

§850.5 Factoring

§850.6 Refusal to Negotiate

§850.7 The Hard Ball

§850.8 The Nice Guy Approach

§850.9 The Principled Approach

§850.10 Carrot and Stick—Example of Improper Claim Payments Tactics by an Insurer

§850.11 Failing to Acknowledge or Process a Claim Received

§860 BAD FAITH LITIGATION CHECKLIST

§870 CHECKLIST OF UNFAIR CLAIMS SETTLEMENT PRACTICES

§880 PRETEXT INVESTIGATIONS

§890 “SOFT” COVERAGE DENIALS

KEY POINTS TO REMEMBER