Travelers Insurance has around 14,000 agents and brokers working for them across the nation. You may not be under their trademark “red umbrella” of coverage, but if you’re in an accident in Kentucky caused by one of their drivers, you may be forced to learn a lot about their business practices as you call on them for support.
Insurance companies may talk a lot about protection and care, but you’ll probably find it’s a different story once you try to get help with hospital bills and lost wages at work. That collision their policyholder was to blame for may suddenly be turned around to make it look like you were at fault. You may also experience anxiety as you wait months for a response from Travelers while your expenses pile up.
Support for Louisville Accident Victims Dealing with Travelers Insurance
There are many tricks that insurance companies play to rob victims of compensation for their injuries and protect the company’s profits. All of these tricks are reliant on you not having a lawyer watching out for you.
Don’t play into an insurance agent’s hands. Contact a Kentucky attorney with Kaufman & Stigger, PLLC, for a free assessment of your injury case. Give us the details of what happened and we’ll discuss your options with you and give you a quick lesson on how insurance agents operate. It’s always better if you contact us before you get a call from a Traveler’s representative. Once they get a statement from you they can often use it to weaken your case.
Travelers Insurance Tactics Used on Accident Victims
Vehicle collisions are generally cut-and-dry cases. There’s usually a clear-cut cause for the crash and usually one person to blame. But when dealing with a car insurance provider, things will never be simple.
They can treat anyone unfairly, even an innocent victim on the verge of bankruptcy with a pile of hospital invoices on their counter. Travelers Insurance adjusters may try to target you even when it’s apparent you weren’t responsible for your crash.
Here are a few of their favorite strategies:
- Make you wait: Travelers may claim their agents are busy and that’s why getting around to your accident claim takes months. At this point, they know that your situation can get more and more desperate as you try to cover your own bills all while likely missing paychecks at work as you heal. They want you to get desperate to set you up for their next tactic.
- Lowball offers: As you face higher and higher debt over your injury, you can be forgiven for starting to lose your mind. This is when insurance agents strike. They can float you an unfair offer that doesn’t cover even half of your medical bills now and those expected in the future. Your injury is likely worth much more than they are willing to let on, but you might not know this unless you have an attorney on your side to spot a lowball offer and demand more.
- Deny your claim: Insurers can also just reject your claim, even if it’s clear their driver has no defense. They can try to twist your words to make it sound like you shared some blame in your accident. They may dig into your driving records to try to show that you’re an unsafe driver. They bring up unrelated factors to try to scare you into giving up and dropping your case. A lawyer working on your case can convince them that you are willing to take them all the way to court if they don’t come up with a fair settlement offer.
For information on accidents involving other insurance companies in Kentucky like USAA and Progressive, click on our insurance page here.
Gathering Evidence for Your Fight with Travelers Insurance After an Accident
A police report and witness testimony should be enough to shut the door on the ploys insurance companies can use, but it’s always best to have all the evidence you can provide when dealing with Travelers agents.
Some of the most important evidence can be found at the scene of the accident, right after a collision. You may not be physically strong enough to start collecting details, but if you are okay for the moment, you should grab your phone and get out of your car when it’s safe to do so.
These are some of the pieces of evidence you can uncover on an accident scene:
- Call 911. Give a full report to Police. Give them details like if you saw the other driver using a cellphone at the time of the crash or if they were driving erratically. These details will all go into their accident report. Have paramedics document any pain or obvious injuries you have.
- Use your cellphone to secure pics. Take photos of every aspect of the scene. Damage to cars, license plates, any signage on the cars including the make and model, and street and traffic signs. Show the weather conditions in one of your photos or a video.
- Exchange information with the driver responsible. Get driver’s license and insurance information. Don’t exchange your opinion on what caused the crash or how bad your injuries are. These statements can be used against you later.
- Talk to all witnesses on the scene. Get their contact information. If they are willing to give a written statement or a statement on video allow them to do so. Have them sign any written notes.
- Notice any security cameras nearby. Business cameras or doorbell cams on homes may have recorded the accident.
- Get checked out by your own doctor. Pay special attention to any injuries that appeared in the days after an accident. This is not uncommon. It’s why you don’t say that you’re unhurt at the scene. Your shock may be keeping you from feeling the pain from some injuries until later.
Contact a Louisville Car Accident Lawyer
Don’t talk to Travelers insurance representatives or give them a statement of any kind until you discuss your case with a legal expert. After you’ve been hurt by a careless driver, talk to a Louisville Car Accident Lawyer you can trust to be on your side and fight against an insurance company’s unfair practices.
The attorneys at Kaufman & Stigger, PLLC, have the knowledge and a combined 100 years’ experience in helping clients get the money they’ll need to make a full recovery. For a free evaluation of your case, contact Kaufman & Stigger, PLLC today, by clicking here.
