Wednesday, July 31, 2002

First, let me start out by relaying a recent, true story. This is only one of many I could share. A friend of mine was recently the victim of a careless driver. He was involved in an automobile collision in which the other driver turned left directly in front of him, causing the vehicles to collide.

There is no dispute over who caused the collision. The other driver was insured with [an insurance company], with an office on Clairmont Road in Atlanta. A few days after the collision, the insurance company sent someone to give my friend an estimate for the cost of repair of the damage to his vehicle. My friend had his vehicle moved to the body shop and they immediately began work.

There was never a dispute over the cost of the repairs or the repair facility. The collision occurred on June 10, 2002. The adjuster appraised the damage on the 13th and the body shop began work. The vehicle was ready one week later.

What's the problem? First, the insurance company would not provide a rental car so my friend could go to the doctor and back and forth to work, which is what led him to call me. See, I am an attorney with a practice concentrating in representing the victims of automobile collisions.

It had not crossed my friend's mind to call an attorney and get me involved until the insurance company jerked him around. It was [company's] fault my friend sought the advise of an attorney and [the company's] fault they will have to actually compensate him in full, now that he fully understands all his rights and remedies.

Second, to add insult to injury, the check, from the insurance company on Clairmont Road, to pay for the damage, has not arrived in my office, my friend's home, or the body shop. The body shop will not let my friend take the vehicle until payment is received. My friend, like many people, does not have $3,500 to pay for the damage out of his pocket.

Where is the check? In the mail? I don't think so. Does it take a month for a check to be delivered from Clairmont Road to Fayetteville? No.

[The company] did eventually agree to pay for the rental while the car was being repaired. However, the day it was ready to be picked up is the last day they will pay for the rental. Now [the company] says they will not pay for the additional time the rental car was needed.

This conduct has further made my friend and me less and less willing to try to reach a resolution outside court and not at all willing to do anything but insist on my friend being compensated to the fullest.

Insurance companies know they pay more to resolve claims once the victim consults with an attorney. Yet, it is the insurance company that drives the victim to the attorney's office.

In 10 years, no one has come in my office and been excited that they had been in a car accident and believed they should strike it rich because of someone else's negligence. They call me because a huge, coldhearted, insurance company, which, despite all the advertisements, has absolutely no interest in doing the right thing or handling the claim promptly and fairly, is jerking them around.

What does that mean to you if you are not the victim, but rather, caused the collision? It means you are more likely to become a defendant in a lawsuit. It means you are more likely to see the sheriff at your door with a complaint for damages. It means, that depending to the extent of injury and damages as compared to your insurance limits, you might end up owing the other driver out of your pocket.

Again, how could this be avoided? [By] the insurance companies stepping up to the plate and being fair with the victims. The insurance companies have a different idea. They want to avoid this by frustrating you into paying for everything, rental car, property damage, doctor's bills, and prescriptions, out of your own pocket, and let them keep the billions they collect in premiums.

Don't believe the propaganda you hear from the insurance companies that plaintiff's lawyers are the reason costs are high. No, insurance companies control the costs and if they could ever treat someone fairly through each step of the claim, they could put plaintiff's lawyers out of business. And by the way, I am not in the least bit afraid that will happen.

Stephen Ott

Fayetteville

[Ott is an attorney practicing in Fayetteville.]

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