Questions have been raised as to the real relationship between personal injury lawyers and insurance companies. The protection of a client’s rights is the business of personal injury lawyers while minimizing payment or pay nothing on claims is usually the goal of most insurance companies. Generally, personal injury lawyers and insurance companies dislike each other.
Personal injury lawyers are there to represent those who have suffered an injury as a result of a personal injury accident such as auto accidents, animal attacks, wrongful death, medical malpractice, product liability and aviation accidents. Predominantly, personal injury lawyers are dependent on insurance companies for most of their earnings and this is why it is quite difficult to hire a personal injury attorney on a contingency basis if you wish to take legal action against someone who does not have any insurance.
Since personal injury lawyers usually get a percentage of the final monetary compensation or the ruling, if any is to be paid, the real relationship between the two can be said to be argumentative or confrontational. The only moment that insurance companies and personal injury lawyers can agree or settle anything is when it is quite clear that the insurance provider will loose its case and prefer to settle outside of court rather than go through lengthy and expensive court proceedings. The higher the value of the settlement won, the more the personal injury lawyer gets paid. Therefore, it is in personal injury attorney’s best interests to do their best to win the case on behalf of their client as it will lead to them receiving a hire payment than if the case is lost.
Furthermore, it will cost insurance providers much money even if they win the personal injury case as they have to pay for the attorneys who represented them. The whole personal injury claim process can be painful for insurance companies but can also be profitable as they make money when they do not have to pay compensation on claims they win. It is for this reason that insurance companies may be tempted to use unfair tactics or tricks in claims practices. They can delay or deny viable personal injury claims, confuse clients with insurance contracts that are difficult to understand or unlawfully cancel insurance policies that could be too costly to pay out on.
Therefore, personal injury lawyers and insurance companies are not exactly the best of friends as each side will be trying to “one up” the other in order to sustain and build their reputations and public images.
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