Bad Faith Insurance Companies
A recent research study “The Ten Worst Insurance Companies in America,” conducted by the American Association for Justice, suggests that one of the main reasons some of the top insurance companies are booming is because they have embarked on aggressive policies to avoid paying out claims, whether the claims are justified or not. In other words, “they will take your money, but when it’s time for them to pay you, watch out.”
Insurance company’s biggest interest is collecting premiums rather than paying claims. The report put out by AAJ states, “the U.S. insurance companies annually collect over $1 trillion in premiums, and today the industry is sitting atop $3.8 trillion in assets.” The industry undoubtedly is doing very well, yet their customers are suffering. These companies operate on the basis of contracts with their customers and they ought to live up to those contracts. The following are the three worst companies according to the list produced by AAJ:
The top offender on the AAJ list is Allstate, whose “3 D” strategy is deny, delay, and defend. They seem to litigate every claim including ones filed by their policyholders. In doing this, they hope it will wear out the opponents and get them to accept a minimal payment or force them to drop the claim altogether. The policyholders who paid them a premium are left with no coverage. In fact, a former Allstate adjuster said, “they were rewarded for keeping claims payments low, even if they had to deceive their policy holders. So much for being in ‘good hands!”
The second worst on the AAJ list in Unum, who is one of the nation’s leading disability insurance carriers, yet has a poor reputation when it comes to their policyholders. In one instance, Debra Potter, who spent years selling Unum disability policies, was denied her disability claim that was filed due to her multiple sclerosis. Even though her doctor backed up the legitimacy of the claim and the Social Security Administration concluded she was completely disabled, the company still denied her claim repeatedly for three years.
Third on the list is AIG, the nation’s largest carrier with assets valued at over a trillion dollars. They have a reputation for being stingy in paying out claims, and according to AAJ, former AIG claims supervisors have said, “the company used all manner of tricks to deny or delay claims, including locking checks in a safe until the claimant complains, delaying payment for attorneys’ fees until they were a year old… and routinely fighting claimants for years in court over mundane claims.” The company has even gone as far as using price-gouging strategies developed to cash in on the tragedies like Hurricane Katrina and the September 11 attacks.
Companies such as the ones mentioned above have been known to take advantage of their policyholders. Therefore, it is important for individuals to do their research and take their time in order to choose a reliable and dependable insurance company.
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