You were not at fault. The other driver hit you. The police report says so. You filed a claim with the at-fault driver’s insurance company expecting them to pay — and instead, you got a denial letter. Or worse, you got months of delay followed by a denial.
A denial from the other driver’s insurance company is not the end of the road. In Mississippi, you have legal rights that exist whether the insurance company likes it or not. This article explains what those rights are and what to do when an insurer denies a legitimate claim.
Insurance companies deny claims for a lot of reasons. Some denials are legitimate — there are times when liability is genuinely disputed or the claim is outside the scope of coverage. But many denials fall into a different category. They are denials of convenience, made because the company is betting the claimant will give up.
Common denial tactics include claiming the wreck was your fault even when the police report says otherwise, claiming your injuries existed before the wreck, claiming there is no proof your injuries were caused by the impact, or claiming the policy does not cover what you are asking for. Some denials are based on a specific reading of the facts that the company knows is debatable. Others are simply wrong.
The pattern is consistent. The company knows that most people who are denied do not push back. The denial is the easiest path to closing the claim without paying anything.
One of the most common denial bases in Mississippi car wreck cases is the claim that you contributed to the accident. The other driver’s insurance company will argue you were speeding, that you should have seen them coming, or that you somehow could have avoided the wreck.
Mississippi follows a “pure comparative fault” rule. Under this rule, you can recover damages even if you were partially at fault for the accident — your recovery is just reduced by your percentage of fault. If a jury finds you 20 percent at fault and the other driver 80 percent at fault, you recover 80 percent of your damages. Even at 51 percent fault you still recover something.
This is important because insurance companies sometimes use the comparative fault rule as a denial weapon — claiming you were 100 percent at fault when the actual evidence does not support it. Police reports, witness statements, photographs, and accident reconstruction can all rebut a bogus comparative fault denial.
When the insurance company refuses to pay a legitimate claim and negotiations have gone as far as they can go, the next step is filing a lawsuit against the at-fault driver. Mississippi has a three-year statute of limitations for most personal injury claims, which means you generally have three years from the date of the wreck to file suit. Wait too long and you lose the right to sue at all.
Filing suit does not mean the case will go to trial. Most car wreck lawsuits settle at some point during the litigation process — often after key depositions, or after the defense realizes the plaintiff is prepared to take the case to a jury. But filing suit changes the dynamic. The insurance company is now defending a lawsuit, which costs money. The case is now on a court schedule, which forces decisions. And the company knows that if it does not settle, twelve people from the community will eventually decide what your case is worth.
For many cases, the lawsuit itself is the lever that produces a fair settlement.
Even when you are dealing with the other driver’s insurance company, your own auto insurance policy may have coverage that helps you. Medical payments coverage, often called MedPay, pays for your medical bills regardless of fault — usually up to a limit of $1,000 to $10,000 depending on your policy. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage applies if the at-fault driver had no insurance or not enough insurance to cover your damages. Collision coverage pays for damage to your vehicle.
Your own insurance company has its own duties of good faith to you under Mississippi law. If your own insurer is delaying or denying coverage that should apply, the bad faith protections discussed in our other articles apply directly.
When an insurance company denies a claim, your single most important asset is your documentation. The denial letter itself. Every email and letter you have exchanged with the company. The police report. Your medical records. Photographs from the scene. Witness contact information. Repair estimates.
If you are not sure whether to keep something, keep it. Throw nothing away. Print emails. Save text messages. Write down the date, time, and substance of every phone call.
When an attorney evaluates a denied claim, the first thing they look at is what evidence exists to challenge the denial. The more you have preserved, the easier it is to fight back.
If your claim has been denied, you do not have to accept the denial. I offer a free consultation to review the denial, evaluate the underlying facts, and explain your options. Some denials are unfortunately legitimate. Many are not. You will not know until someone who knows what to look for examines the file.
Contact Weldy Law Firm before the statute of limitations runs out and before you accept a denial that should never have been issued in the first place.
