What if the At-Fault Driver’s Insurance Refuses To Pay?

Anytime you are involved in an accident and another person is at fault, you should be able to recover compensation from their insurance carrier for your losses. However, securing compensation in the aftermath of a crash is not always easy, even if liability for the incident clearly falls onto the other party. Do you know what to do if the at-fault driver’s insurance carrier refuses to pay a claim? Here, we want to discuss what options injury victims may have if this happens.

Why would an insurance carrier refuse to pay?

There may be various reasons that an at-fault party’s insurance carrier would refuse to pay a claim after an accident occurs. This could be due to:

• Fault disputes. After conducting an investigation into the incident, the insurance carrier may determine that the police were wrong to assign blame to their policyholder, and therefore deny the claim. The insurance carrier may also claim that neither party was to blame for the incident. In some cases, the at-fault party’s insurance carrier may try to shift some or all the responsibility for the incident onto you.
• Compensation disputes. The insurance carrier of the at-fault party may dispute how much compensation you are seeking. They may refuse to pay all of the compensation until the dispute is settled, or they may payout the undisputed portion of the settlement while keeping any disputed amounts.

What to do if the insurance carrier refuses to pay

If the at-fault party’s insurance carrier refuses to pay a settlement, do not panic. There are various steps you can take to ensure that you still receive the compensation you deserve.

First, you need to hire an experienced Lexington car accident attorney to help with your case. Many people do not contact an attorney after an accident occurs because they are afraid they will not be able to afford one or feel the accident is too minor. However, most car accident lawyers will take the case on a contingency fee basis. This means that the client will owe no legal fees until after their attorney secures the compensation they deserve.

An attorney will be able to handle all communication and negotiation with the insurance carriers involved. An attorney can use their resources to conduct a full investigation into the incident in order to prove liability. This could include gathering evidence that was previously not used in the case, including photo or video surveillance, statements from eyewitnesses, and more.

Take the case to trial

If the insurance carrier of the at-fault party refuses to pay a claim, even after the lawyer gets involved, it may be necessary to file a personal injury lawsuit against the alleged negligent party. Again, you should have an attorney by your side to help with this process. Even after a lawsuit is filed, most car accident cases are handled before they go to trial through ongoing negotiations between the insurance carriers and legal teams. However, in order to obtain maximum compensation, you need to be willing to take the case to trial if necessary. It is important to keep in mind that Kentucky has a two-year statute of limitations in place for personal injury cases. Victims have a two-year window with which to file a claim against an alleged negligent party, or they will not be able to recover their losses.