The last thing you want after enduring the traumas of an auto accident is a letter from your insurance company denying your claim. After all, you rely on your insurance company to have your back after an accident. Below are the most common reasons an insurance company will reject your claim.
Missed Monthly Premium Payments
When you insure your car, you effectively sign a contract between yourself and the car insurance company. As a policy holder, you need to make those payments on-time to keep your policy active. Missed payments could suspend your policy and cause you to lose coverage. Consider paying the full balance on your insurance premiums. You’ll have a larger upfront cost, but you won’t have to worry about losing coverage due to a missed payment. Another option is to set a reminder on your phone at the beginning of the month and the week before payments are due if you pay your insurance monthly. At least one month before your policy expires, review your rates and shop around for companies who can offer you better discounts or payment options.
Material Misrepresentation
Material misrepresentation is concealment of facts or giving fraudulent statements that would affect the premium insurance rate.
Omitting Drivers in the Household/Policy-Excluded Drivers Operating Vehicle
Insurance premiums are determined by a variety of factors, including the amount of risk you or other drivers pose to the insurance company. By omitting other drivers in your household or allowing a documented excluded driver to operate your vehicle at the time of the accident, you have misled your insurance company. All drivers in the household need to be documented by your insurance provider even if their car is insured by a different company. This also applies to rental cars.
Deceptive garaging
Where you store or insure your vehicle impacts what policy and coverage options your insurance company can offer you. Storing or insuring your vehicle in a city and state other than what is listed on your insurance policy can cause your insurance company to deny your claim. Insurance requirements and liability options can vary by state, causing you to potentially be underinsured according to state law.
Insufficient Coverage
The only mandatory car insurance Florida requires is personal injury protection (PIP) and property damage liability (PD).
Bodily injury liability, collision, comprehensive, uninsured motorist and Med Pay are additional coverage options not required by the state of Florida, but are good to have. Your insurance company representative can guide you based on your driving habits and history what coverage options besides the basics are good for you to include in your policy. In many circumstances, bodily injury liability, collision and uninsured motorist are the coverage options you’ll want to add to your policy. Like anything that you sign, be sure to read your policy carefully and have it in a hard copy for reference. Some companies even have an app for your smartphone.
Don’t Wait to Report an Accident
As a no-fault state, you’ll most likely turn to your insurance first. Contact your insurance company as soon as you have been in an accident so they can begin the claims process. Remember that your insurance company needs time to investigate your claim and account for your policy limits.
The Florida statute of limitation for car accident personal injury claim is four years from the date of the accident. At SKG, our car accident injury attorneys work quickly and responsively to make sure that your claim can get processed in the shortest time available without compromising accuracy and compensation. Give our offices a call today for a free case evaluation at (800) 350-FIRM or contact us online to learn more how the Florida car accident attorneys can help you get back on your feet and back in control.