THE OLD WORN OUT STORY—THE INSURANCE COMPANY IS NOT RESPONDING TO MY UTAH CAR ACCIDENT CLAIM. WHAT DO I DO?
Is your assigned insurance adjuster on your Utah car accident injury claim: 
- –Not returning calls.
- –Giving you a low ball offer?
- –Not paying out the claim?
- –Acting in bad faith?
- –Not responding to a demand letter?
In defense of insurance companies who serve legitimate “rule of law” needs in a civil society, they are big. Insurance companies are complicated beasts with multiple layers of approval authority designed to avoid paying too much or making mistakes. This means that your assigned Utah car insurance adjuster can move slow. So give them a reasonable chance to respond and work in good faith with them until proven otherwise.
HOW TO GET THE CAR INSURANCE COMPANY TO RESPOND TO YOUR UTAH INJURY CLAIM
Here are the best ways to get an insurance company to respond:
(1). Hire an Attorney. Hiring an experienced attorney will move your injury claim faster and more efficiently then if you to do it yourself. Real, working injury attorneys know how to get Utah injury claims finished. They know how to collect your medical records and get the police report fast. All of this finishes your claim fast.
(2). File a Lawsuit. One great way to force the insurance company to respond is by filing a lawsuit. Filed lawsuits trigger mandatory deadlines that the insurance company must respond to or they will be defaulted.
Filing a lawsuit against an insurance company takes attorney skill which many, many personal injury attorneys don’t have. Filing a lawsuit automatically eats a $375 filing fee and $100 service fee in Utah. Most attorneys have never filed civil lawsuits, let alone tried a civil jury trial.
When you file a lawsuit on your Utah car accident claim the following often happens:
(a). Attorney Assigned. Your attorney gets a call from the assigned insurance defense attorney asking for more time to answer the complaint.
(b). Adjuster is Switched. Not always, but often the adjuster is swapped out for a more experienced litigation adjuster.
(c). Lawsuit Value v. Claim Value. The “reserve” value given by the insurance company generally goes up with a filed lawsuit. Every insurance company initially values all incoming claims and assigns a “reserve” money amount to pay that claim in case it needs to be paid. When no lawsuit is filed the “reserve” amount of money to pay the claim may be lower because there is no threat of an excess judgment. No filed lawsuit, no threat of an excess money judgment against their insured.
(3). Put it in Writing. You need to put important correspondence in writing for future use. First the insurance adjuster doesn’t have time to take hundreds of calls, so putting your requests or information in writing helps them process their claims faster. Second, placing important demands in writing can trigger faster responses because they owe their insured a duty to act in good faith and settle your claim.