Denied Allstate Insurance Claim?

Serious car accidents happen far too frequently in Washington. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) reports that more than 47,000 people are injured in crashes each year. While some of these injuries are thankfully mild or moderate, many others are very serious. Being hurt in a car accident can leave a person with serious pain and suffering, unpaid medical bills, lost wages, and in need of long-term healthcare treatment.

Under the law, car accident victims do have a path to seek financial relief. Victims are often entitled to compensation from the responsible insurance company. Yet, in practice, getting compensation can prove to be a frustrating and difficult endeavor. Unfortunately, the big insurance companies reject wholly valid auto accident claims more often than most people realize.

Was your Allstate insurance claim denied? You need to seek immediate assistance from a qualified Seattle car accident lawyer who has experience handling Allstate insurance denials. Your lawyer will be able to investigate your accident and figure out what you need to do to get full and fair compensation for your damages.

What is the Difference Between a First Party and Third Party Claim

A first party insurance claim is a claim that a person is filing against their own insurer. For example, if you have Allstate auto insurance coverage, and you need to file a claim against that specific policy, you will be bringing a first party claim. A third party insurance claim is one that a person is filing against the coverage of another party. For example, if you were injured in an accident with a distracted driver in Seattle, and that driver was covered by an Allstate insurance policy, you can bring a third party claim against Allstate. In either situation, Allstate has a legal obligation to act in good faith and handle your claim fairly. The company cannot mistreat you simply because you are bringing a third party claim.

Allstate Has a Legal Duty to Act in Good Faith

Under Washington state’s insurance regulations, all insurance companies have a legal duty to act in good faith. In practice, this means many specific things, the most important being that auto insurance companies, like Allstate, have a responsibility to handle your claim with efficiency, honesty, and overall fairness of process. If Allstate fails to live up to those obligations, then the company can be held legally liable for bad faith damages. If any of the following apply to your case, then you may have a viable bad faith insurance claim against Allstate:

Allstate failed to properly investigate your claim;
You experienced unexplained or unreasonable delays;
Allstate made unreasonable demands for documentation;
The company made it hard to communicate with them;
The company provide new clear guidance on how to move forward with your claim;
Allstate representatives misrepresented or omitted material facts;
Allstate representatives misrepresented the terms of the underlying insurance policy;
Your claim was unreasonably underpaid; or
Your claim was unreasonably denied.

How Our Top-Rated Washington Car Accident Attorneys Can Help

Reviewing Your Allstate Denial Letter

In the unfortunate event that Allstate has denied your auto insurance claim, you need to get the denial letter into the hands of an experienced Seattle denied insurance claim attorney immediately. Your lawyer will be able to review the letter along with the specific facts. From there, your attorney can help explore all of your available legal options, so that you can get the full and fair financial compensation that you are owed by Allstate.

Drafting a Demand Letter

After reviewing and investigating your claim, your personal injury attorney in Seattle can draft a demand letter on your behalf. Your demand letter will do the following three things:

Clearly lay out your case for Allstate;
Make a request for fair compensation; and
Inform Allstate that you intend to pursue legal action if your demand is not met.

Demand letters are an effective way to get the insurance company to take your claim more seriously. Once your lawyer has sent a well-crafted demand letter to Allstate, you can be sure that the insurance company will be reviewing their conduct and looking for ways to settle your case. This helps to move the process forward into more effective negotiation.

Going Through the Administrative Appeals Process

The majority of insurance companies offer an internal appeals process. Our top-rated Seattle car accident attorneys can help you file a strong administrative appeal. We can make sure that you have an extremely compelling claim so that the insurance company will take your case seriously. If you file a weak appeal, or an appeal that is missing key evidence, you are unlikely to experience success. Quite the contrary: the insurance company may try to lowball you even further in any future settlement negotiations.

Skilled Negotiation

Many Allstate insurance claim denials end up in negotiation. If you are negotiating with agents of Allstate, you should always be represented by a top-rated car accident lawyer. Whether your claim is going through a formalized mediation process, or any other type of fully informal negotiation, our legal team has the skills and experience to help.

Car Accident Injury Litigation

Most personal injury claims are settled before going to trial. The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) reports that less than five percent of personal injury claims go before a judge. Still, is it sometimes necessary to file a lawsuit to seek fair compensation. Whether you are filing a car accident injury lawsuit, a bad faith insurance practice lawsuit, or both, our Seattle car accident lawyers can assist you. We will make sure that your claim is handled properly, so that you can get the compensation you are owed.

What to Do When Your Allstate Insurance Claim is Denied

Our legal team is standing by, ready to fight for your rights. At the Khan Injury Law, PLLC, our top-rated Washington auto accident attorneys have extensive experience handling all types of insurance claim denials. If your Allstate insurance claim was denied, please do not hesitate contact our law firm today to schedule a free, fully confidential review of your case.