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The Law Office of Doug Goyen is a personal injury attorney that believes every injured person is entitled to the services of an aggressive and skilled attorney. Your car accident attorney should have credibility among their contemporaries for taking on insurance companies and coming out on top. They should limit their practice to assisting victims of accidents and injuries, and they should be able to describe previous cases similar to yours that they have won.
INSURANCE COMPANY TIME LIMITS TO INVESTIGATE CLAIMS IN TEXASLiability coverage insurance (or other liability insurance, such as homeowners): If you file a claim for an accident against another person’s Allstate auto liability insurance, there is no statutory time limit on how long the insurance provider must investigate. In Texas, you have a two-year statute of limitations (time limit) from the date of your accident to settle your claim or file a lawsuit. If you do not settle your claim within that time and do not file a lawsuit until the two-year limitations period expires, you will forfeit your right to your case forever.
Prompt Payment of Claims in First-Party Claims is covered by Texas Insurance Code sections 542.051-542.061. It does not extend to third-party liability lawsuits against someone else’s insurance, such as when you file a lawsuit against someone else’s insurance for an injury caused by their negligence. In general, an insurer has 15 days to accept a claim, initiate an investigation, and request the relevant statements and forms under Insurance Code section 542.055 in first-party claims.
The insurance provider then has 15 days to approve or deny the claim after receiving all it has requested, according to 542.056. The act contains exceptions that give the insurance provider more time if they make such timely requests. The insurance provider must then issue payment within 5 days of approving the claim, according to Texas Insurance Code section 542.057. This law covers first-party coverages such as uninsured motorist claims and personal injury protection claims.
Unfortunately, the 15-day time limit does not apply in cases where you are making a claim against someone else’s insurance. If you have a claim against an Allstate insured driver or any other insurer, there is no time limit for them to respond to you. You are the one with the time limit. You have 2 years from the date of the incident (the accident or injury) to either settle the case or file a lawsuit – or you forever lose any right to pursue your claim in Texas.
Uninsured Motorist Coverage: If you file an Uninsured Motorist Coverage claim through your own insurance, the insurance is walking into the shoes of the uninsured driver (taking the place of the insurance that the other driver should have had). In Texas, the time limit for resolving a lawsuit against another driver is usually two years (the time period of the Texas Statute of Limitations). However, if your Uninsured Motorist claim is denied, you have four years to file a lawsuit against your own insurance company. This is because when making a lawsuit against your own Uninsured Motorist Coverage, there is a contractual relationship. However, you should never wait this long to pursue your case because proof and evidence will vanish or become difficult to locate if you do.
Personal Injury Protection: You have up to 3 years to file a claim under Personal Injury Protection (PIP), and you have up to 4 years to file a complaint if your claim is denied under PIP (the contractual statute of limitations time period in Texas).
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INFORMATION NEEDED FOR YOUR CASEIf you are injured in an accident, the Allstate insurance adjuster’s job is to pay as little money for your claim as possible. They will refuse to pay your claim if they have the option to do so. Allstate adjusters are trained and experienced in gathering information that will allow them to deny part or all of a claim. They will question you in order to elicit a response that will allow them to deny a portion or all of your claim. Allow your attorney to represent you in dealings with Allstate. A personal injury attorney who specializes in car accidents will know how to respond to any Allstate insurance adjuster’s questions in a way that protects your claim.
EVIDENCE YOU NEED TO PROTECT YOUR CASEIf you have been involved in an accident and injured by an Allstate driver you should start taking steps to protect your claim. The fact that the other driver admits responsibility at the outset does not guarantee that they will continue to do so. Some people begin to justify and make excuses for their actions after the initial shock of the accident, even blaming you. They could be concerned about their insurance rates, or they could change their story after speaking with their spouse or friends. Gather the following information to protect your case.
Witness information – Gather information from eyewitnesses. Obtain the names, addresses, and phone numbers of any witnesses.
Identification and insurance information – Drivers must exchange insurance and identification. This information must be shared by all drivers involved. Using your cellphone, take photos of everyone’s identification and auto insurance paperwork. Most people at the accident scene are willing to provide this type of information. Once you leave the scene, your ability to gather this information diminishes.
Photos at the accident scene if able – Photograph the vehicle damage as well as the accident scene. Using your cellphone, photograph all of the damage to all of the vehicles involved in the accident. Photograph the damage to each vehicle, as well as the points of impact and license plates.
Give the officer your statement. Cooperate with the police officer on the scene. They will speak to each driver separately, away from the other drivers, in order to obtain each driver’s statement about what happened. The statements provided will aid the officer in the preparation of his accident report. You must ensure that your statement is given so that the officer knows what you saw at the time of the accident and that it is included in the report.
If you have already talked to the adjuster that is alright, but my advice is that if you are hurt you should not be talking to the insurance adjuster. If you are injured in an accident, the insurance adjuster’s job is to pay as little money for your claim as possible. They will refuse to pay your claim if they have the option to do so. Allstate insurance adjusters are trained and experienced in gathering information that will allow them to deny part or all of a claim. They will question you in order to elicit a response that will allow them to deny a portion or all of your claim. Allow your attorney to represent you in dealings with the insurance company. A personal injury lawyer who specializes in car accidents will know how to respond to any insurance adjuster’s questions in a way that protects your claim.
DO IN NEED A LAWYER?If you were injured in a car accident and making a claim against Allstate, you will need the services of a personal injury lawyer who specializes in car accidents. If an Allstate adjuster is looking into your claim, you’ll need a lawyer who has experience with the type of accident you were in, such as car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, pedestrians hit by cars, or bicycle riders hit by cars.
Allstate insurance adjusters investigate every accident claim. They must obtain their driver’s report regarding what occurred, even if there is a police report that clearly favors you. They need to verify the facts – the police officer may have mixed up the names or cars, or simply did not hear their driver’s story clearly, for all the Allstate insurance adjuster knows. If the insurance company is delaying because they are unable to contact their driver, a witness, or a police report, this is not unusual; however, it is also a sign that you should consider hiring a lawyer to protect you and your claim. If you were injured, you should hire a lawyer because injury claims cause the insurance company to look for ways to deny insurance coverage, liability, and damages.
Call For A Free Case Review (972) 599 4100
HIRE AN ALLSTATE CLAIMS INJURY LAWYER TODAYThe Law Office of Doug Goyen has been handling accident claims since 1997 as a car crash injury attorney. If you need an Allstate Claims injury lawyer you need to contact us at (972) 599 4100 today. Recognizing the intricacies of personal injury and insurance law is critical to obtaining the compensation you are entitled to. Because most laypeople lack experience in such matters, it is best to consult with an experienced Allstate claims injury lawyer in Dallas who can assist you in dealing with insurance agents and navigating the court system if necessary.