Insurance adjusters know the rules that they are supposed to follow. Unfortunately, some of them make a point of bending those rules. The claimant that plans to negotiate with an adjuster keeps that fact in mind, when dealing with that representative of the insurance company.
A frequently-used tactic
Insurance adjusters realize that the injured victim of an accident cannot sue the insurance company more than 2 years after the accident. That restriction has been defined by the statute of limitations. Of course, adjusters have been dealing with injury claims for an extended period of time; the typical claimant has not.
For that reason, one of the adjusters’ tactics focuses on the amount of time that has passed before the filing of the personal injury claim. Some claimants are told that they have waited too long to file a claim. In actuality, there is no limit on the amount of time that can pass before the victim of an accident has the right to proceed with filing a claim.
A tactic that works in most states and provinces
In all the provinces of Canada, and in most of the states in the U.S., the adjuster has not right to inquire about the victim’s possible sources of payment for any of the losses caused by the accident. For instance, that rule prohibits questions about the extent to which sick leave or vacation time has been used to cover the time spend home recovering from the accident.
Some victims have health insurance, and that pays for the medical expenses that have arisen, as a result of the injury-causing incident. It would be to an adjuster’s advantage to learn about such coverage, but the law prohibits the making of an inquiring about such a possible source of payment.
Still, the existence of such prohibitions does not keep all adjusters from making such inquiries. For that reason, Injury Lawyer in Mississauga warn their clients to use caution, when speaking with the adjuster. Smart clients listen to their lawyer, and do not fall into the trap that has been set, by the presentation of an improper request.
If you live in U.S, you do not enjoy the same level of protection from the adjusters’ improper inquiries. Of course, most Canadians do not have to worry about the laws in any U.S state, unless they would decide to visit a specific state.
Even then, that visitor from Canada might not be asked to share information on his or her sick leave, vacation time, or coverage from health insurance. Those sorts of questions would only get asked, if the Canadian visitor happened to become involved in a motor vehicle accident, while riding the highways. Then there are different set of laws that maybe applicable.
