Getting into an accident can be a pain in more ways than one. You've got insurance claims to file and maybe even treatment for injuries you received. Then your insurance company tells you what you think and what they think about compensation isn't quite the same.
One Upstate man called 7 On Your Side when his insurance company offered him thousands less than he was expecting for time off from work. Dianne Derby helped him get his insurance company to raise their offer plus you'll learn what you can do if your claim was unfairly denied. It's all part of this Problem Solver.
Gary Crotts says injuries he received from an accident back in 2005 left him out of work and out of pay for six months.
"I was unable to do anything," said Crotts. "I was under Doctor's orders not to do anything."
He says in those 6 months he lost out on $13,000 in wages. But he says his insurance company, Allstate, didn't buy his claim for lost wages. He says the company was siding with two of his doctors that felt he could go back to work.
"The first (doctor) was more concerned about my work than my health and he wanted me back on the job," said Crotts.
Crotts says his primary care physician didn't want him working until they could figure out what was wrong.
"They weren't thinking of me as my agent in town was because the agent that I had contacted in town the first thing this person did...which was Dale Foster...was jump on the phone and say hey what's going on," said Crotts.
Mr. Crotts says Allstate made a final offer to him in writing of $7000. He said that wasn't good enough and that's when he called us. Just a few months later they raised that offer to $11,000.
"All the sudden things just turned around," said Crotts.
In a statement to us Allstate company spokesperson Renita Ward said, "We do not discuss individual claims as a company policy, but what I can say is in cases where claims involve multiple physician reviews and conflicting statements, we work hard to resolve matters amicably and reach agreeable settlements."
It was an agreement Mr. Crotts was willing to settle for.
"I thought to myself this should be good enough and I went ahead and took it," said Crotts.
If you feel you've been unfairly denied an insurance claim you can call the South Carolina Department of Insurance Complaint Services at (803)737-6180 or you can download a complaint form here.
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