NORTH CAROLINA INSURANCE ATTORNEY

Clients regularly contact our law firm after they have already had their insurance claim denied. That’s far later than you want to get an insurance attorney. The best time to contact an attorney is before you file the claim.

Even if you think your claim is too trivial or too simple for an attorney, it is in your best interests to consult with an experienced insurance attorney in North Carolina. The initial consultation at Morgan and Morgan is free, so the only cost of consulting with an attorney is a little bit of time. 

During your consultation, we will explain your options and give you a reasonable estimate of how much you deserve from your insurance claim. Even if you decide not to hire an attorney, you will be armed with knowledge that can help you in your claim process.

If you do choose to continue with Morgan & Morgan, we will guide you through the insurance process. While you may have navigated the insurance claim process before, you’ll likely find that things are much simpler and smoother when an experienced insurance lawyer is representing you. 

We know precisely what type of information you need to provide to the insurance company, how to collect any evidence, and how to deliver it all to the insurance company efficiently and in a timely manner.

You’ll find that we are completing steps of the process and meeting deadlines before you even knew they existed. Furthermore, your attorney will handle the majority of communications with the insurance company, saving you time and hassle. 

Having your attorney communicate on your behalf has the added benefit of ensuring that you don’t accidentally say something that will harm your claim or encourage the insurance company to lower your compensation.

The ultimate goal of any insurance claim is to get the maximum possible payout in the least amount of time. To that end, we will start negotiating for a fair settlement as soon as we have collected the required evidence.

If the insurance company is unwilling to offer a fair settlement, you will enjoy the other benefit of having an attorney represent you. When an insurance company won’t fulfill its obligations to you, you have the option to file a civil lawsuit to get relief. Our attorneys have plenty of experience at trial and will fight to get you full relief from a jury trial.

The success of most insurance claims can be directly tied to the actions that the claimant takes—and avoids—during the claim process. While the best action you can take is to retain an insurance attorney in North Carolina, there are other important actions you can take or avoid as well.

Document Everything

All insurance claims involve a financial loss. Whether you are involved in a car accident, your bike is stolen, or the roof of your shed collapses, you are facing a financial loss. The insurance company needs to determine the value of that financial loss. And left to its own devices, the insurance company will assign the lowest possible value to that loss.

The more documentation you can provide about the value of the loss and the events that led up to the loss, the more likely that your lawyer can pressure the insurance company to assign a higher value to it. 

For example, in a car accident, you want to document damage to the car and get contact information for witnesses who will support your claim. Alternatively, if an item is stolen, you want to produce receipts that show exactly how much you spent on the item. 

Your attorney can tell you how best to document a claim and what documentation is most important.

Sign Nothing

Depending on the circumstances of your claim, you might find yourself being approached by a lawyer or an insurance agent who asks you to sign some paperwork. They might tell you that you can’t get any money unless you sign. 

Regardless of what they say, you should not sign anything unless your personal injury lawyer advises you to do it. By signing the wrong document, you could potentially be signing away your right to file a lawsuit or get fair compensation.

Don’t Talk About Your Claim

As tempting as it can be to talk about the events that led up to your insurance claim, you should avoid talking about those events with anyone. This means you shouldn’t talk to other people involved in the event, your friends and family, or even an insurance agent. 

Instead, let your attorney communicate with others or, at the very least, make sure that your attorney is present during any conversation.

This also means that you should avoid posting about your claim on social media. The insurance company will use any excuse to deny your claim, and whatever you say or write on social media is public information. The last thing you want is for the insurance company to deny your claim because of a post you made without thinking.

Act Swiftly

Most insurance companies allow you to file a claim within minutes of an event covered by your policy. Typically, your insurance company will have a phone number that’s monitored 24 hours a day where you can immediately file a claim. 

Even if it doesn’t have a 24-hour claim line, your insurance company probably offers an option to file a claim online any time of the day, every day of the year. You should file your claim immediately after you consult a lawyer.

There are a few reasons you want to file quickly. First, evidence is harder to track down the longer it has been since the incident that prompted your claim. Witness memories will fade in just a few days, and other evidence may be impossible to collect after only a few hours.

Additionally, there are many hidden deadlines in the insurance industry. If you wait too long to file a claim, you could run into one of those deadlines. And even if there isn’t a deadline for your insurance claim, there may be a time limit for civil action you can take if your insurance company doesn’t treat you fairly. 

By acting quickly, you ensure that you never run afoul of any of those deadlines or time limits.

Your insurance company is required to complete the claim process in a reasonable amount of time. Payment is considered part of the process, so the insurance company can’t unreasonably delay your payment. 

Despite this, some insurance companies will intentionally delay the payment process to try to pressure you to drop your claim or accept a lowball offer. If your insurance company appears to be illegally delaying your claim process, report it to your insurance attorney in North Carolina.

It isn’t always clear which insurance policy will cover your claim. For example, imagine that the roof of your garage collapsed and crushed your car. Do you make a claim with your car insurance policy or with your homeowner’s policy? Your insurance attorney from Morgan and Morgan can answer that question based on the details of your claim.

Similarly, if another party is potentially liable for your loss, you might wonder whether you should file a claim against your insurance policy or their insurance policy. The best option is to file a claim against your policy immediately. 

If the facts eventually prove that another insurance policy should cover your claim, you can work that out later. The sooner you start the process, the easier it is to work out those kinds of details.

The last thing your insurance company wants is for you to hire an attorney. If you hire an attorney, the insurance company will almost always end up paying you more money than if you don’t hire a lawyer.

No. Your insurance lawyer needs your approval to settle the case. Typically, your attorney will discuss your minimum requirements for a settlement before negotiating. By doing this, they are more likely to negotiate a settlement that you will approve once you see the details. 

However, even if your lawyer negotiates a deal that you initially said you would approve, you have the right to change your mind later.

Similarly, you have the right to accept a settlement offer even if your attorney recommends that you don’t accept it. Your attorney is looking out for your best interests and will be honest about your options, but you have to make the final decision about what you think is best for you.

If you are about to make an insurance claim in North Carolina, hold off on making a phone call or filing a claim online. Instead, contact the experienced insurance lawyers at Morgan & Morgan first to schedule a free case evaluation and learn about all of your options. We’re ready to lead you through the insurance claim process.