When insurance companies win more sinkhole trials
As of late, many insurance companies have begun to brag about how many sinkhole trials they win. This message is great for them, as it scares off unhappy insureds, making them believe they will lose a trial if they decide to sue the insurance company. However, let’s dig a little deeper into this claim to see what it actually means.
How often do they win sinkhole trials?
In the past, insurance companies won only about 25% of sinkhole trials; that means you would have had a 75% chance of winning. Those are pretty good odds! In the past couple of years, that number has risen closer to 50%-60%. While these numbers may look daunting to the layman, I’ll extrapolate.
In most any legal arena, you would expect about a 50/50 split on wins at trials, which means they’re fairly just. The courts don’t bend to either party, so as long as you have a legitimate defense, you should feel fairly confident that the law will provide justice.
Therefore, when insurance companies boast that they are winning 50% of trials, that’s….normal! While this number is meant to leverage negotiations, you should know that this number actually reflects a fair and just court system. The insurance companies don’t have the upper hand, they’ve simply brought the numbers down to a level playing field.
Why this number changed
Knowing this, you may still be concerned; you mean to say that before insurance companies would lose sinkhole trials, but now it’s more difficult? Well, not necessarily. This is because of how this percentage has changed.
Your insurance company has become more likely to win a sinkhole trial because they are trying more of them. That’s it! Before, when they tried limited trials and did not employ a decent legal team, of course, they lost trials. Now that they have decided to face the justice system head-on, of course, their numbers are improving!
What all this means
Even knowing all this, keep in mind that an insurance company that has increased funding for a legal team and experts is doing just that – spending more money. In the cases in which the homeowner wins the trial, 50% of the time, the insurance company now has to pay for their expert and legal fees on top of their own. Therefore, they’re losing significantly more money, even despite their boasting.
There is no issue with insurance companies trying more cases to keep “the balance”. This just shows us that the system is working as it should – when either party is significantly more likely to win these cases, it means there is a bias in the court system.
The issue with this strategy is that insurance companies boast about how much of these trials they are actually winning. When insurance companies are involved in lawsuits, it’s because the homeowner is bringing the claim. The insurance company has the ability to pay or not pay you, so it’s a bit of a one-way street when it comes to selecting a case to go to trial.
Your insurance company’s power
Once the case is opened, the insurance company can get out of it at any time – all they have to do is pay your claim, then take their chances when it comes to attorney fees. If you open a case and the insurance company backs out and pays your claims literally hours before trial, it wouldn’t be the first time.
Or, if they do not believe they have anything to worry about, they can opt to over a very small settlement or none at all. When they do this, it’s guaranteed they go to trial, and they can just run the case, knowing they’re likely to come out well in the end.
That being said, it is your time and money that is truly at stake. If your insurance company accepts your case, it’s because they are confident that you will lose – any insurance company that is purposefully treating your claim with negligence will simply opt to not try your case.
