How Our Lawyers Handle a Geico Injury Claim

How Our Lawyers Handle a Geico Injury Claim

Clients injured in a car accident should file a claim and demand compensation from the liable auto insurance company. GEICO is one of the biggest insurance companies in the country, so our attorneys often handle GEICO insurance claims.

You should retain a car accident attorney to help with your GEICO injury claim. Navigating and negotiating a claim with GEICO is complex, and you may need to correct things. Our team of skilled Riverside auto accident attorneys will ensure you get the best treatment and compensation for your losses.

Schedule a Free Initial Consultation

What Is The GEICO Claim Handling Process?

The first step in filing an injury claim with GEICO is to call them or report the claim online and the accident and injury. This begins the insurance claims process.

After the accident is reported, the insurance company will assign an adjuster to your claim. The claims adjuster will investigate the accident and determine who is at fault and whether GEICO is financially liable. The adjuster will review your insurance coverage and your policy, check what is covered, and compare it to the current accident and damages.

Next, the GEICO worker will contact all involved in the accident to collect statements about what happened. This process includes drivers, passengers, pedestrians, bikers, and witnesses. The adjuster will take the statements and collect detailed evidence from all parties. There may be conflicting stories, and there may be follow-up interviews to understand what happened.

Then, the GEICO adjuster will gather police reports, photos, surveillance video, and documentation of each damaged vehicle. They may also ask you for certain information or documents.

After collecting all needed accident and injury information, the adjuster will review everything and handle the matter as necessary. They can agree on whether their covered driver is fully liable or not. They also can deny the claim outright. Even if GEICO accepts full liability for the accident, getting the company to cover your damages fully can be challenging without a car accident attorney. GEICO incentivizes its employees to reduce claims payouts, and they may try various strategies to reduce your compensation, especially if you don’t have a lawyer.

How Will GEICO Value My Injury Claim?

GEICO’s employees will look at many factors when determining how much to offer in your accident settlement:

• Medical costs: Your medical bills are one of the most important factors in the size of your GEICO settlement. However, you should know that GEICO may or may not properly value your future medical needs for a severe injury, such as head trauma. That’s why having a car accident attorney negotiating for your future medical expenses is critical.
• Severity of injuries: The more severe the injury, the higher the GEICO settlement. If you have a severe injury requiring hospitalization and surgery, you will receive more money. You should always have an auto accident attorney negotiating the settlement with GEICO if you were hospitalized and needed surgery.
• Insurance policy limits: The insurance policy limits will affect your settlement, too. If your losses exceed policy limits, you may need to file suit against the liable driver if they have assets and property.
• Evidence: Proof of fault and your injuries will also affect the settlement’s size. If the other driver hit you from behind at a red light and broke your back, you’ll need strong proof of fault and injuries to get full compensation. Important evidence would be surveillance video, witness statements, the police report, your medical report, and the doctor’s statements about the injuries and prognosis.
• Lost earnings: Someone with a long-term injury may be out of work for months or years. Your car accident attorney will ensure you receive money if you have lost the ability to earn a living. This is important if you are permanently disabled.
• Long-term prognosis: Is your injury relatively minor? Will it fully heal after a month or so? If you get back to full health, your settlement will be less than if you have long-term implications, such as limited mobility or brain function from your injuries.

What Challenges Are In A GEICO Injury Claim?

Filing a personal injury claim with a large insurance company is complicated. While many injury victims assume the process will be easy, there are often problems that require a personal injury lawyer’s assistance:

• Lack of knowledge: Most injury victims don’t understand the insurance and personal injury claim process. They also may not know what their case is worth. Without knowing the value of your future medical needs, lost earnings, and pain and suffering, you can settle for a fraction of what you deserve. Receiving too little money can negatively affect your health and finances.
• Delays: Reporting your auto accident injury immediately connects the crash and your injuries. However, many injury victims delay seeing a doctor and filing the claim for weeks. This can make GEICO question your claim. They may even deny liability if you wait too long.
• Statements: It’s common for injury victims to give slightly different statements to the police, insurance companies, doctors, etc. They aren’t usually lying; it’s human nature for the story to change slightly over time. However, giving an inconsistent narrative about the accident can lead to trouble with your GEICO claim. A car accident attorney will ensure your story stays consistent.
• Inadequate documentation: You need strong evidence to prove fault in a personal injury claim. Provide strong proof of fault to avoid GEICO employees questioning your claim. They can offer less for your injuries and damages than you deserve.
• Policy details: Most auto insurance policies have various exclusions that can affect your claim, and you may need to be made aware. Exclusions in a GEICO policy include certain injuries, accident scenarios, and more. A car accident attorney understands the insurance policy details, so there are no unpleasant surprises during settlement negotiations.
• Settlement negotiations: Obtaining a fair settlement, even when the other driver was obviously at fault, is easier said than done. GEICO insurance adjusters undergo regular training to understand how to reduce what the company pays. You will likely settle for less than you deserve without an auto accident lawyer.

Schedule a Free Initial Consultation

Don’t Give GEICO A Recorded Statement

Suppose you are hit by another driver, and they have GEICO insurance. The other party caused the accident; you broke your wrist in the crash, so you called their insurance company to file a claim. Proceed carefully!

The GEICO representative may want to record the conversation and ask you questions about the accident. Many injury victims may think they must talk to the other driver’s insurance company; a recorded statement is customary.

However, giving a recorded statement to the other party’s insurance company can hurt your claim. GEICO will try to use anything you say against you. The GEICO adjuster will use parts of the recorded statement to reduce what they pay you.

The GEICO agent may be aggressive in getting a recorded statement from you, but you aren’t required to do so. After a severe accident caused by another party, the best action you can take is to report the accident to your insurance company. Your insurance company can contact the other driver’s insurance adjuster and handle the matter.

You can also call a personal injury attorney after you get medical attention and have your lawyer talk to GEICO. That way, you’re out of the insurance conversation, and your attorney can handle everything.

GEICO May Ignore Your Medical Bills

A possible issue if you don’t use a car accident attorney is regarding medical bills. The other driver’s GEICO representative may ask for copies of your medical bills from the accident. You are entitled to compensation for medical expenses if the other driver caused the accident.

It’s reasonable to assume that if you submit $10,000 of medical bills to GEICO, they’ll cover $10,000. Not so fast. GEICO and other insurance companies don’t always agree to cover the full amount on each bill. It may ignore what you were charged and only cover a certain amount for each service. This can shrink your GEICO settlement and leave you short money to pay medical providers.

GEICO also may question if each treatment you received was medically necessary. Suppose you hurt your back in a car crash and went to physical therapy 20 times. Each session was billed at $500. GEICO may argue that only nine were medically necessary, so they only cover those at only $250 each.

You are probably upset and confused about all of this, but you need money to agree to reduced compensation for your medical expenses. However, GEICO isn’t automatically entitled to pay you a reduced amount for your medical bills. A car accident attorney can take GEICO to court and force it to pay the full medical expenses, plus pain and suffering and lost earnings.

Don’t Allow GEICO To Define Your Claim’s Value

GEICO and other large insurance companies like to use ‘anchoring’ in settlement negotiations with an injury victim without a lawyer. Anchoring is when you rely too much on one piece of information to make your decisions.

GEICO uses the anchoring technique when they make an initial low offer to settle your case, which they almost always do. Say GEICO offers you $5,000 to settle a car accident claim. You thought your claim was worth $20,000, but you may subconsciously be tricked into accepting that your case is worth less than it is. Your counteroffer may be based on the initial low offer and not its real value. So, you might counter with $7,000 to settle the case instead of a much higher number based on your $20,000 assessment.

Falling into this insurance trap is easy and understandable when you don’t hire a car accident attorney. Your attorney will negotiate a settlement from day 1 based on the case’s full value, not the reduced value that GEICO uses. This ensures that you will get a fair amount for your losses.

File A Lawsuit If Necessary

GEICO assumes that the injury victim won’t file a lawsuit. But sometimes, the only way to get the maximum amount for your losses is to file a personal injury lawsuit. Filing a lawsuit against the driver puts more pressure on GEICO to settle the claim fairly. There is a good chance that your settlement offer will increase if you file a personal injury lawsuit. However, you should only do so on the advice of your car accident attorney. Your lawyer will make every effort to settle your case for the maximum. However, if your attorney files a lawsuit, it can encourage GEICO to up their offer and end the case without an expensive, lengthy trial.

Contact A Car Accident Attorney Today

Handling a GEICO claim after a car accident can be complicated and intimidating. But our experienced personal injury lawyers are skilled in GEICO claims and will simplify the process so you get the most compensation. We are experienced in dealing with insurance companies, such as Geico, and will work tirelessly to protect your interest. Call today for your free consultation to learn more.

Schedule a Free Initial Consultation