If you are in a car accident in Illinois that is clearly not your fault, you might be stunned when the insurance company for the other party or even for you, denies your case without reason. It shouldn’t happen, but does all the time.

The paraphrased question I get all the time is “How can the insurance company deny my claim?” Let’s look at some of the most popular reasons.

– This is how insurance companies make money. They have done studies that in a nutshell say that if they can wrongfully deny three out of ten claims and get away with it, it will save them hundreds of millions of dollars. So when you’ve been rear-ended at a stoplight they will tell you with a straight face that it was your fault somehow. If they frustrate you in to doing nothing, they win. And that’s their plan.
– They are a sub-standard insurance company. You’ve seen the awful TV commercials where companies promise you insurance no matter how bad your driving record is. These operations are as terrible as some of their drivers. They won’t return phone calls, they’ll tell you insurance was cancelled when it wasn’t, they’ll offer only pennies on the dollar, etc. You almost have to sue when they are involved because otherwise they take the approach that it doesn’t cost them money to ignore the case.
– You don’t have an injury or it’s really minor. It’s actually harder to get a settlement when there is only property damage to a car than when there’s a major injury. The insurance company knows that lawyers in Illinois who handle car accident cases work on a contingency basis (meaning they only get paid if they win), they won’t usually get involved in very minor or car damage cases only. That’s quite honestly because there is not much money to be made in those situations.
– You were at fault. Sometimes you think you did nothing wrong, but the truth is there are facts which show you were at least 50% at fault such as turning left in front of a car that is speeding toward you. If there is any reason to deny your case even the good insurance companies will do so.
– Y<strong>our coverage has lapsed or the other driver wasn’t insured. It could be that the other party was at fault, but they weren’t covered under the vehicle that they were driving. Remember, these lawsuits and claims are against the driver who is at fault so you might be forced to sue them directly.

There are other reasons of course like your file getting lost or them waiting on a police report, but these are the big ones. If you’d like to ask us questions about a car accident or want an attorney referral, call us for a free consult at (800) 517-1614 or fill out our contact form and we’ll call you. We help everywhere in Illinois.