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Insurance Claims

Bad things happen. That’s why you bought insurance. Of course, you always hope that you get lucky and won’t ever need it, but in case you aren’t so lucky, you’ll be protected against at least the financial fall-out. Or so you hope.

There are insurance policies for everything imaginable: life insurance to protect the livelihood of the survivors after someone’s death, health insurance, car insurance, homeowner’s insurance, and on and on.

Now something has happened, and you’re looking to your insurance company for help. After years and years of faithfully paying your premiums, you have every right to expect that they’ll live up to their promises. It’s their turn to pay up.

But you may be in for a big disappointment. They might deny your claim. Somewhere in the tiny print they list the exclusions, something they never mentioned when they signed you up.

Perhaps they do pay, but instead of giving you what’s fair, they low-ball you to the point that their pay-out doesn’t begin to cover what it would take to make things right.

Welcome to insurance companies acting in bad faith as they try to pad their bottom line at your expense. In spite of huge disasters in the last few years, insurance companies are raking in record profits. Ever wonder where they come from?

If you’re caught up in a dispute with your insurance company, you’ll need a good lawyer. A lawyer who understands how insurance companies work and how they argue their cases. A lawyer who knows how to get them to pay up.

If you live in West Virginia, especially in or near Martinsburg, in Berkeley, Jefferson, or Morgan County, or anywhere else in the Eastern Panhandle, help is close by. If you’d like an experienced, trustworthy insurance attorney on your side, don’t look any further:

Meet Harry Waddell, the insurance claims and ERISA claims attorney with a proven record of success. The lawyer with the personal touch. With 12 years of defense work under his belt, he knows the tricks that the insurance companies use to get out of paying up. He will personally fight for getting you the compensation you deserve.

Harry will also be happy to help you if you live a little farther away, for example in other parts of West Virginia, including Potomac Highlands (Grant, Hampshire and Hardy Counties), or even in Western Maryland (Washington County and Hagerstown).

When it comes to insurance claims, there are two distinct situations you might be facing:

a) Problems with insurance companies in general, such as claim denial, slow processing, low-balling, and more.

Or you might be facing:

b) Denial of an ERISA or similar employee benefits claim.

In both cases, you’re facing a situation where the money you had every right to expect is not forthcoming, or coming more slowly or in much smaller amounts than it should. In both cases, you will also need an experienced attorney on your side to preserve your chance at getting what you’re due.

Beyond that, there are some important differences.

ERISA:

ERISA stands for Employee Retirement Income Security Act, a federal law, that has an administrative scheme that must be followed closely in the event of a claim. Generally, you may find that you can file the claim yourself. If it is approved, all is well.

If it is denied, however, you need the help of an experienced attorney immediately. Why? Because the appeal you must file to preserve your claim must be filed within a tight deadline, and because that appeal may be your only chance to get your money. Once that appeal has been denied, the hands of your attorney may be tied. Your chance at compensation may be gone for good.

So be sure to call an attorney immediately if you’re faced with a denied ERISA claim. Harry Waddell has many years of experience with ERISA and similar claims filed by government employees, and with winning compensation for his clients. He will be very happy to assist you in your claim as well.

Other Insurance Claims:

There is a entire range of possibilities when it comes to other kinds of insurance claims.

The most common one is bad faith denial of compensation. What does bad faith mean?

When you purchase an insurance, you and the insurance enter into a contract. The expectation is that this is done in good faith: You’ll pay your premiums, and if the type of circumstance should occur for which you’ve bought the insurance, the insurance will pay.

Sometimes it’s as easy as that. Often, unfortunately, it is not.

Potential problems abound: The insurance may delay processing, fail to investigate, or simply deny the very kind of claim for which you had bought the insurance in the first place.

Sometimes they will send you a check quickly, but don’t just go and cash it without checking with a lawyer! That check may be for an amount far below what you should really get. That situation is called low-balling.

Life insurance claims are yet another area where problems can occur. The insurance company might try to get out of paying up by finding a legal loophole or by claiming to interpret a clause in the small print in a way that would make the policy void.

If a loved one has died, you’re probably distressed enough as is. Don’t let the insurance company take advantage of your vulnerable emotional state and trick you. Call Harry Waddell, the lawyer you can trust. He will personally go to bat for you. You can reach him at 304-263-4988.

And he is not far away in some anonymous big city either. His office is right here in Martinsburg, WV 25401, at 300 West Martin Street.

Just be sure to call him soon. Time is of the essence in any insurance claim. Call 304-263-4988 for your free consultation. Harry will be happy to help you.

Library for Insurance Claims:

Private insurers mishandling medicare claims
Description: Audit shows problems with private insurers handling new medicare drug benefits, including misleading marketing and denial of patient claims
CNA Insurance Loses ERISA Case - Judgment Order [PDF]
Description: Judgment Order Against CNA Insurance in ERISA Case
UnumProvident Settles ERISA Case [PDF]
Description: Agreed Dismissal Order
Order Granting Attorneys Fees and Costs in ERISA case [PDF]

Frequent Questions for Insurance Claims:

Case Results for Insurance Claims:

Liberty Mutual pays client $40,000 for malicious prosecution claim - $40,000

Web Resources for Insurance Claims:

Fight Bad-faith Insurance Companies (FBIC)
Description: Web site with helpful information and links to fight badfaith insurance practices.
allstateinsurancesucks.com
Description: Insurance consumer website with complaints about Allstate Insurance