Many California drivers never would have imagined getting into a car accident and turning to a tiny gecko lizard for help. But millions of motorists across the nation have decided to let Geico and their green mascot represent them after they’ve made a mistake on the highways.
You may not pay premiums to Geico Insurance, but if you are in an accident caused by one of their policyholders you will be forced to send out a call for support to their agents.
The funny commercials featuring lizards and cavemen are great to watch, but they don’t represent the experience you’ll have when you go to file an injury claim. Geico can suddenly be very unhelpful and provide endless amounts of frustration for those injured and in need of true help.
Gaining Help From Geico After a California Accident
Insurance companies have been using the same tactics on victims since well before Geico’s app-friendly coverage arrived. All of the giant insurance providers rely on well-worn strategies to funnel injured victims down the same path of confusion and desperation. The final goal is to get accident victims to give up on their hopes of receiving help with their medical costs or to accept far less than they’ll need in compensation.
Many victims are tricked into accepting less at a time when they need so much more. Allowing a California car accident attorney to take up your case is your best defense against these tactics. Contact us for a free consultation before talking to any insurance representative.
Geico Tactics After an Accident
Injured victims face so much adversity as they attempt a medical recovery. It’s never helpful when they are also stuck in a losing battle with insurance adjusters.
In fact, some tactics used by Geico and other giant insurance companies depend on you being stressed and at the point of desperation. These are just a few of the strategies you may see while attempting to get help after a collision:
- Delayed Response: Geico’s first step may be to hit the brakes on your accident claim. They may not even open your claim for weeks or months. They make you sit with your hospital bills and increasing losses at work so that you become more and more discouraged. Once you are desperate enough, they start the claims process. This delay is part of the “bad faith” behavior shown by insurance corporations. An attorney will know exactly what’s going on and make some calls on your behalf to make sure the process moves quickly.
- Lowball Settlement Offer: Once you are way behind on your monthly bills and medical invoices, insurance agents can try a follow-up step. They’ll make you a lowball offer that may not even cover half of your expenses, but since you’ve been made to wait, you may be vulnerable enough to jump at any offer. Part of your personal injury attorney’s job will be to inspect any settlement offer you receive and determine if it’s fair or not. This extra layer of security can save you from losing out on thousands of dollars in compensation you’ll need in recovery.
- Refusal to Settle: When insurers believe you don’t have the aid of a legal expert, they can try another trick. They can take the official stance that they owe you nothing in compensation. They may not even make you a settlement offer. They can claim some fine print absolves them of liability. At this point, they hope you don’t have enough understanding of the process to tell that they are bluffing. If you give up on your claim, they’ve won a huge victory. Your legal representative will be able to tell when they give you a bogus reason for not providing support. When a personal injury lawyer responds to their refusal to settle, they often make a quick reversal.
- Shifting The Blame: Geico can also use its considerable resources to start poking holes in your account of the collision and even the facts documented on a police accident report. Insurance investigators will look into your driving history to find accidents that they think will prove you are an unsafe driver. They’ll also point to medical records that might show you were injured before your accident. If they can scare you into accepting some or all of the blame in a crash, insurance agents save their companies thousands of dollars. These smear tactics generally don’t hold up in court and your personal injury lawyer will use evidence to show how far off base Geico’s claims are.
The Threat of a Trial Used Against Geico
Once they know you have an expert in California Law watching over your case, Geico will be more worried about the threat of being taken before a judge and jury. This is a cost insurance companies like Geico want to avoid.
Geico also wants to avoid their “bad faith” behavior coming to light in a court of law. The threat of getting dragged into court is much more real when you have a personal injury lawyer preparing evidence and witness testimony for the possibility of a trial. This threat of legal action is usually enough to get them to make a fair settlement offer.
Contact a California Car Accident Lawyer When Dealing with Geico
After an accident involving a serious injury or the loss of a loved one in California, contact attorney Martin Gasparian for a first consultation that comes at no charge or obligation to you. Mr. Gasparian takes a hands-on approach to every case and has a long, successful track record when negotiating with big insurance firms. He believes that no case is over until victims have everything they need to heal and rebuild their lives.
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