Oregon Law Discourages Insurer Delays in Settling Claims

This segment of The Law and You features Eugene, Oregon personal injury trial lawyer Don Corson tells of Oregon Law that provides a weapon to discourage an insurer’s delay in paying your claim.

The Corson & Johnson Law Firm, a Eugene, Oregon personal injury trial law firm, produced and distributes The Law and You as a continuing public service to help Oregon families and consumers answer questions about our legal system and how it works for them.  Each week, The Law and You spots are aired on KKNU, KMGE, KEUG, and KODZ in Eugene, Oregon.  If you have suggestions of legal questions or topics you would like addressed by The Law and You, please visit our website at CorsonJohnsonLaw.com.

Following is the actual radio broadcast audio (in playable mp3 format) and the script from this broadcast of The Law and You.

Topic: Insurance Delays in Settling Claims (The Law and You Final Script- Eugene, OR)

Reporter:  This is Joel Block for The Law and You with Eugene attorney Don Corson.  Don, it seems that we’ve all experienced frustration with delays in insurance companies paying claims.  Are there any laws that can help?

Don:   When we buy insurance–whether for health, home, or autos–we expect the insurance company to honor legitimate claims.  Unfortunately, insurance companies may want to delay paying, and often try to pay less than is fair.  There is a law that applies in some cases, if an insurance company does not settle a claim within six months for someone they directly insure, if the insured person is successful in their case, the company may be required to reimburse that person for their cost to hire an attorney to fight for them.  The purpose of the law is to counteract the incentives the insurance company has to delay, that encourages faster resolution of some insurance disputes.

Reporter: Thanks, Don.  For more information about insurance disputes, go to CorsonJohnsonLaw.com.  The Law and You is a community service and does not replace the advice of an attorney.