Almost everyone knows that insurance companies will try everything and anything they can to get out of paying legitimate insurance claims. So when an insurance consumer gets word back that their claim was accepted, it’s usually met with excitement and relief.

However, according to some recent information released, even upon accepting fault for a claim, insurance companies will still do everything they can to minimize the payout of owed benefits, including looking at a person’s weight.

According to one individual, who was hit by a red-light-runner, the claims adjuster for the insurance company was withholding thousands of dollars because “your client’s overweight” and “overweight people don’t heal as fast.”

This information was received with shock and disbelief by the injured party, as not only was there no medical evidence for this determination, but it also raises the question of how long the insurance company has been doing this and what else it will try to get away with reducing benefit payments on legitimate claims.

It is common practice for there to be a review an individual’s medical history related to the injuries sustained in the collision. However, it is not common practice to allow insurance company’s to go on fishing expeditions through an injured party’s unrelated medical records. The insurance benefit payents should be based solely on the injuries arising out of the accident.

It seems reprehensible, then, that an insurance company would willfully hold back money specifically because an individual is “heavier.” Indeed, most states including Arizona, follow the “thin-skull” or “egg-shell” rule. The rule states that the insurance company takes the innocent victim as it finds her and cannot excuse itself by saying it’s the innocent victim’s fault that she is suffering because she won’t try to lose some weight. Indeed, given the insurance claims adjuster’s comment that “overweight people don’t heal as fast,” it would seem like the payout amount should be higher for heavier people, if anything.

Source: http://www.ksat.com/news/defenders/defenders-weight-can-affect-insurance-settlement/25583606