Aflac Insurance takes great pride in their all-knowing mascot, commonly referred to as “the duck.”  While “the duck” may make for entertaining commercials, we have issue with one of the duck’s most recent accomplishments.  That accomplishment is the duck’s seemingly positive ability to settle an insurance claim quickly…actually in four days.  Take a quick look for yourselves.

Why the Duck is Confused

The duck, and Aflac for that matter, is confused because the successful settlement of an insurance claim is simply not, measured by the quickness within which that claim can be resolved.  The settlement of an insurance claim is not like a race in which quickness matters.  What matters most is the successful resolution of a claim.  Successful in this context is by no means best measured in terms of being fast.

What do we mean?

Insurance companies that receive a settlement claim basically have a goal.  That goal is to pay a person as little as possible, if not at all.  This does not mean they are not being fair.  It’s just the nature of their business.

So, if an insurance company wants to settle a claim quickly, what does that mean?  Well, in general, it basically means that they don’t want to negotiate and are offering a quick settlement amount in the hopes that the claim goes away.  Again, this is just the nature of their business.  Why would an adjuster pay you a reasonable amount on a claim when he could get away with much less?

Let’s Examine this on a Different Level

Settlement negotiations on insurance claims should not take place over night.  They also should not get resolved in a mere four days.  Settlement negotiations should start with a person’s (the insured’s)  reasonable expectations regarding payment.  The reasonableness of this payment should be upheld throughout negotiations.  Odds are that an insurance adjuster will downplay this payment.  But once again, that is their job.  The result is a back-and-forth numbers game that should involve substantiation on both sides.

The entire process of substantiating a claim can take weeks, if not even months.  Granted, this time is greater than four days, but ideally, negotiations will go on as long as necessary until a fair agreement is reached.  A key to know is that if an insured is dealing with an insurance company all on his own, he is on their turf.  He does not, in the least, have home-court advantage.  The result?  The insurance company will seek to reach a quick settlement in the hopes of paying out less for what the claim is actually worth.

Does an Attorney Help Matters?

Yes.  An attorney can step in and deal with negotiations on your behalf.  In addition, a good and experienced attorney should be able to see through the quickness within an insurance company’s willingness to settle a claim.  A good attorney should be able to divert this quickness in order to replace fastidious with reasonableness.

Phillips Law Firm possesses this type of insight.  We understand that, at times, the duck is confused.  We’re not about to follow the message from a commercial when that very message could negatively impact the rights and benefits of our clients.  Our firm is not about quick results.  Rather, we’re about just and righteous results that are in your best interest.