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Insurance policies that lie

Sounds like the title of the next Oprah show, or maybe Maury Povich ( I was on that one years ao).

Insurance policies that lie…

Yes, indeed.

I’m working on an injury case right now where the very words of the insurance policy work against my client.

Under the terms of the insurance policy my client, an injury victim, and one very badly injured, is not entitled to certain benefits.

Well, that’s what they want us to think.

And, if the injury victim and his lawyer do not know any better, they’ll fold up their tents and go away.

That’s what they want, and that’s what many claimants have done.

The trouble is this: The insurance policy violates state law. Those provisions the insurance company is relying upon are not legal. The New Hampshire Supreme Court has declared them void and unenforceable.

This brings to mind 2 questions:

1) Would a part-time, jack of all trades lawyer, pick up on this?  The answer is “no.”

2) Do you think the brains at the insurance company, with all their legal support, knew this when they wrote the policy? The answer is undoubtedly “yes.”

So, it is not so much ” insurance policies that lie” as it is ” insurance companies trying to deceive”.

Say what you want about the insurance industry, but it is clever, monied and able to buy the very best legal talent it can to help them save money. I find it most unlikely it just didn’t know the policy provisions are illegal.

Clearly, it knew what it was doing, and deliberately wrote policy provisions that took rights away from its own policy holders.

It tried to screw over its own insureds– folks who pay premiums year after year to the company.

There is no other way to look at it.

Do you suppose these knowledgeable policy writers and their high powered lawyers just didn’t know the law, made a mistake, or just got it wrong?

No way.

It was intentional.

It was a calculated business decision based on bad ethics.

And, the truth of the matter is that, in its cost-benefit analysis, they still come out on top because most insureds and most lawyers, even those who call themselves injury specialists, don’t know enough to challenge the provisions.

The insurance company’s gamble is successful.

They’ll win many more than they’ll lose.

A few injury lawyers get it; we call the insurance company’s bluff.  It pays us, but gets away with murder on 99% of the other cases.

This is how it works.

It’s a tough business.

If you ever thought an injury victim should go-it-alone, in all but the most minor cases, then you really need to think again.

It’s my practice to talk with all sorts of claimants, and if I think someone does not need an injury lawyer, I’ll tell them so.

On occassion, if the injuries are minor, and it is not worth anybody’s time for me to get involved, I’ll give free advice to help someone wrap up a case on their own, without a legal fee.

I’d rather have that person’s good-will, than their money.

Don’t be afraid to ask.

Get free advice.

I’ll shoot straght with you.

Keep your strength.

Charlie Donahue

injury lawyer

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