An Allstate Lawyer took my clients deposition last week. My client was asked about who communicated with her after the crash. Turns out that an Allstate adjuster called my client a couple of days post crash and offered her $500 for her injuries in exchange for closing out her claim. My client has an injury that is going to last a lifetime. The notion that an Allstate Adjuster would call her up a few days post crash and try to resolve her claim is offensive to me. Here is a person involved in a big crash with serious injuries and Allstate is doing its best to screw the injured person over by resolving it quickly and for less than what the case is worth.
Lets pretend for a minute that my client is in a financial bind and $500 sounds pretty good. They accept. From that minute forward they are prevented from further compensation to pay medical bills. What if my client needed a surgery and didn't have health insurance? I can see a scenario where the client goes bankrupt on account of the medical expenses. And all of this because of an Allstate "pop out" adjuster.
There are rules in place that prevent lawyers from communicating with injured persons post crash. There should be a similar rule for insurance companies. I might be ok with a rule that allows Allstate to pay 500 bucks up front but preserves the right of the injured party to re-open the claim at any point within the statute of limitations, but allowing unfettered communication to an unrepresented party by a sophisticated insurance company is absurd.
Nobody ever hears about this stuff and it happens on a daily basis.
Lawyer Rant & Advertising Material by Brian Dettman www.louisville-injury-lawyer.com
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