Is Nationwide Considered a Difficult Insurance Company to Settle With?
Nationwide, the nations 8th largest auto insurer, is a gargantuan operation with in excess of 30,000 employees. Nationwide posted profits of 893 million in 2010 and 716 million in 2009.1 More recent figures suggest Nationwide is even more profitable today. According to the company 2
2015 produced 1.2 billion in net operating income
an increase of 10% over the prior year. The company also has some 197 billion in assets. A recurrent theme in the rhetoric from the major automobile insurers is that they lose money every year on auto claims.
There may be a variety of market forces, incentives and business carryover that would suggest a company should continue in an endeavorthat costs it money every year. I’m /Attorney Eric T. Kirk not entirely sure what those forces are, but I can tell you, even when Nationwide says they lost money in a given year on auto claims, they nevertheless continue to write the policies the next year, and their businesses remain enormously profitable. Certainly, one way to limit claims paid exposure is to pay out on fewer claims, or to pay less on average, per claim. There are methods available to the insurance industry to achieve this. They have the ability to deny a claim outright, and force the injured person into litigation. The company may also slow the resolution process down, so that the injury victim, who may well be out of work, behind on bills, and with mounting medical expenses and in desperate need of funds. may accept less than full value for their claim.
I’ve been involved in numerous cases with Nationwide over the years. Nationwide uses the “in-house counsel” model for claims that end up in litigation. In specific cases, they will refer matters to outside counsel. Whether in-house or independent, the lawyers chosen by Nationwide to handle their trial work are generally some of the most effective personal injury defense lawyers in Maryland. If you have a claim with Nationwide I’d be happy to meet with you to talk about the value of your claim. Contact me. 410 591 2835.
FN1 Statistics from Hoover.com.
FN2 https://static.nationwide.com/static/2015-Nationwide-Annual-Report.pdf?r=50
