Allstate is a very popular car insurance company in Chicago and all over Illinois.
This is probably due to their expensive television marketing campaign (Allstate loves to spend money convincing consumers that they are “in good hands”). It is also trading on the relative good name it made for itself years ago, as a fair company who treated its customers and injured people with respect. Unfortunately, my experience is that Allstate does not treat people very fairly anymore.
Allstate has been voted ‘worst auto insurance company in America’ for its claims practices. It actively delays and denies claims even when they are valid claims. And, it ‘low balls’ injured people and pushes them into accepting tiny settlements before folks have a chance to talk to a good injury lawyer. Many of my clients have been messed around by Allstate.
So how do you win a case against Allstate Car Insurance? The same rules of good practice apply. Andreally, these are grat tips no matter what car insurance company is trying to defdeat your claim for personal injuries.
1. Always tell the truth and do not lie or try to exaggerate the crash, the accident, your injuries or your medical treatment.
2. Be careful giving recorded statements to Allstate investigators or signing paperwork Allstate sends to you.
3. Consider hiring an experienced injury attorney to fight Allstate for you. This is probably the best advice there is. The law is complicated and unless you have a lawyer who has gone to war with Allstate in the past, you will be at a big disadvantage.
4. Make sure you know and follow the rules and deadlines in personal injury cases and claims against Allstate. For example, in most car crash cases, you have 2 years to file a lawsuit. After that, it is too late.
5. Line up witnesses on your side. Allstate hates it when you are organized and you have witnesses who support your testimony regarding injuries, and how the accident happened, and your medical treatment.
6. Do not give up! Did you know that Allstate Insurance actually keeps track of the number of claims that people give up on because they meet resistance? That’s why all of the crummier insurance companies like Allstate make things hard for you as an injured person. They want you to abandon your claim and miss an important deadline. If you miss a deadline, Allstate keeps the money that should and could have been yours.
The most important thing you have to realize is that Allstate employs very experienced trial lawyers. These guys and gals can ruin even the best case. And they are not necessarily going to give you an even break or a fair chance. Their job is to terminate your case, period.
The Allstate insurance claims adjusters decide whether to offer money on a case, or whether to deny any payment. The lawyers themselves have no say in whether to make an offer or whether they can increase an offer. That is pretty crazy to me, but Allstate uses a computer program that tells them how much money to offer. Who your lawyer is, and their record against Allstate can play a role in how much of an offer you get or if you get an offer at all.
You cannot count on a Judge helping you (the Judge must remain impartial). You cannot count on Allstate or its lawyers being fair to you. All you can count on is the help of a good personal injury lawyer. Injury lawyers like me give free case evaluation, and there is no fee until we win. You should consider speaking with me right away. I may be able to give you some good advice, and I can definitely help you with a car crash case against Allstate.
Even in the most straightforward car crash cases, having an experienced injury lawyer is key. My approach to cases is built entirely on the way claims practices evaluate cases. Simply, in the claims stage, we leave no stone unturned in collecting your related medical bills and records and we present them to the insurance company in the proprietary way they require which helps you get fair value for the injuries you got in the car crash.
Then, our approach is informed by this reality: Allstate Insurance, like all insurance companies, only offers fair value on a case if they know that they have something to worry about if the case is presented before a live Jury. In other words, from ‘go’, we get the case ready for trial. We line up the witnesses, prepare trial exhibits, and make sure that the case is as scary for Allstate as possible Scary to them means a Jury will award you good compensation for the harm their insured caused.
The plain fact is this: it is very unlikely that Allstate is going to be scared of you or your case without a lawyer on the case who they know will go all the way to trial if that’s what it takes. That doesn’t mean we go to trial on every case; in fact, very few of our cases end up going to trial. But that’s because we can scare the insurance company and get our clients a fair settlement.
