Your American Family Injury Lawsuit Questions Answered
If you were injured in an accident caused by a driver with American Family insurance, it could be confusing to figure out who to sue, how to negotiate with American Family, and what steps are involved in an American Family Insurance personal injury lawsuit.
There are several choices available to you for compensation after a personal injury. For many of those choices, having an attorney can make things easier and increase your chance of getting the settlement you deserve.
Here are answers to some of the frequent questions we see about American Family Insurance:
As of December 2022, the CEO of American Family is Bill Westrate. He was originally a co-CEO working with the previous CEO throughout 2021 until he fully took over in 2022.
The headquarters for American Family Insurance is located in Madison, Wisconsin.
According to US News and World Report, American Family had a 3.7 score out of 5 in 2022. They are ranked tenth with good reviews for the insurance they provide but bad reviews for the customer service and claims handling they offer.
If you’re a driver insured by American Family, the company says they make it easy to file insurance claims. You have the option to submit your claim:
They state that they take insurance claims seriously and will always directly connect you with your American Family Insurance agent or a corresponding claims representative when you call. They require things like a description of the events, photos of damage or injuries, and contact information for anyone else involved. It might be difficult to escalate the claim if you don’t have that information.
If you’ve been involved in an accident and American Family insured the other driver, you typically don’t have to handle claims escalation yourself. Instead, you want to go through your own insurance agent, who contacts American Family on your behalf. If you feel that American Family Insurance is stonewalling you or your insurance provider isn’t standing up for you, you have other legal options.
American Family gives many options for getting an insurance settlement check and how their claims representatives will help an insured party who has been sued, but they don’t have internal instructions on how to challenge an insurance payout other than to speak with the claims representative. You can also consider alternative legal options.
Yes, under different circumstances, you can sue American Family Insurance if you are injured. If you were injured on somebody’s private property, a place of business, or involved in a car accident and the responsible party has American Family as their insurance provider, you can sue American Family for compensation.
You could sue the person responsible if you received a personal injury because someone else was negligent. But do you sue American Family or the other party in a personal injury lawsuit?
Sometimes parties overlap. If you are involved in a car accident, but the responsible driver was driving a company car insured by the company and American Family Insurance, you wouldn’t necessarily sue the driver, but rather you would start with American Family.
There can also be tricky situations where the party you sue changes unexpectedly. For example, their claims resources state that they might cancel policies for customers who are considered high-risk. If, for example, you are involved in a car accident with someone who has American Family as their insurance provider, but that driver was found under the influence, American Family might cancel the policy and then claim they are not legally required to offer any compensation or settlement. If this happens, you have to redirect your claim to the driver individually.
If you don’t like how American Family is handling your injury claim, you have a few steps you can take.
There may be class action lawsuits against American Family Insurance.
An example of the type of claim that might be made is a lawsuit against American Family for having undervalued total loss vehicles during injury claims. In October of 2021, a lawsuit was filed in Ohio stating that when a customer was involved in an accident, and their cars was totaled, American Family made adjustments to the selling price to reduce the total payout.
If you are eligible for a class action lawsuit that is proceeding in court, the lawyers will typically try to notify you through the mail.
To pursue a personal injury lawsuit against American Family:
How much you can get is based on your situation. When you file an American Family lawsuit, you might get compensation for things like:
You don’t automatically get all of these, though. Every situation is different, and this is something where an attorney can help you figure out how much to ask for and which of these categories applies to your case.
For example, if you were injured severely enough that you require long-term care, you can add the projected cost of your long-term care into your American Family lawsuit, but if you received minor injuries that will heal within a few months, you could ask for basic compensation for medical bills and any loss of income during that time.
In any personal injury claim, you might see one or two types of compensation:
Compensatory is intended to cover the direct costs associated with your injury. These include loss of earning capacity, income, medical bills, emotional distress, and so forth. The point here is for you to be put into the same financial situation you would have been in had you not been injured in the first place.
A judge might also award punitive damages as a way to punish the other party and discourage them from repeating the same mistake. If, for example, a doctor is negligent, punitive damages might be awarded for a medical malpractice case to dissuade that doctor from being as negligent in the future.
According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics, the average winnings for tort cases—which include personal injury claims—in 2005 was $31,000, but this figure is different depending on the type of case. The average for medical malpractice was much higher because it included compensatory and punitive damages, but for car accidents, it was $16,000.
Insurance companies like American Family typically calculate a settlement offer based on a handful of factors, primarily what you can prove in terms of cost and what the extent of your injuries turned out to be.
American Family will look at things like your medical bills, lost wages, and invoices or receipts for any repairs to damaged property. If your vehicle was totaled in a car accident, they’d figure out the average value of your car, given its make and model.
The company will also evaluate the severity of your injuries. Compensation for injuries is usually between one and five times the total cost of your medical bills. This is one of many reasons why it’s important for you to get medical care as soon as you’ve been injured and document all of your treatment. Without proper documentation for your medical care, it can be difficult to figure out what compensation should be for injuries.
If you think American Family is offering an unfair settlement for your injuries, it may be time to pull in an attorney.
Insurance companies like American Family typically determine pain and suffering based on a lot of factors, including the injuries you sustained. American Family will rely heavily on whatever evidence you provide to determine how the injury has impacted your daily life. Your injury’s impact will play a big role in figuring out the pain and suffering you have sustained.
Sometimes it may feel like American Family is ignoring your pain or the emotional impact your injuries have had. An attorney may be able to help you seek more than what American Family has offered.
If you are seeking a settlement over an accident with a driver covered by American Family it could take months, or longer, to reach a settlement depending on whether the company is willing to negotiate and make a fair offer. A good lawyer who has worked with cases against American Family before may be able to give you a reasonable estimate depending on your situation.
On their website, American Family states that they will get in touch within two business days once a claim is filed, but how long it takes after that is based on many moving pieces like how much evidence you have, whether an insurance policy covers clear negligence, and whether American Family is willing to offer a settlement.
How you negotiate will look different depending on your situation. Most people who are injured in a personal injury situation because of negligence start by sending a demand letter for compensation to American Family. This demand letter should explain exactly what happened, what injuries you sustained, how it was the other party’s fault, why American Family is responsible for that other party, and how much you want in compensation. You might very well be sending a demand letter to American Family because they are your insurance provider, and you want to file a claim.
The response you get from American Family will determine what steps you take thereafter. Sometimes they might send a response requesting additional evidence or information. Sometimes they send a response offering an amount that you may or may not consider adequate. Other times they might send back a letter stating they aren’t responsible or won’t offer compensation.
If you have an attorney working for you, that attorney will negotiate back and forth during this stage, and if American Family doesn’t settle, your attorney can help you pursue the next steps, like filing a lawsuit against American Family.
The best way to maximize your insurance settlement with American Family is to have sufficient evidence for your claim. Just because you were injured doesn’t mean you can sue American Family Insurance. You have to be able to prove that you were injured because someone else was negligent and that someone else in question has American Family Insurance as their insurance provider.
Generally, having a lawyer will often result in a stronger and more successful case with maximized settlements.
How long an American Family lawsuit lasts can depend many factors, such as:
According to a National Center for State Courts study, personal injury cases take an average 16 months to resolve.
You don’t necessarily need a lawyer for an injury claim against American Family Insurance. You can legally represent yourself, but having a lawyer will typically result in a stronger and more successful case. This means that with a lawyer, you are more likely to maximize your compensation.
In an American Family injury lawsuit, a lawyer does many things. They start by letting you know whether you have grounds for a case. During your initial consultation, they’ll review what evidence you have in the circumstances behind your injury. They help you gather the information and evidence necessary to prepare your demand letter if you have a case. A good lawyer can gather evidence on your behalf and submit your demand letter to American Family Insurance on your behalf as well.
Once that is done, an attorney will cover communication between any other parties and negotiate on your behalf with American Family. If they can’t reach a settlement, then an attorney can prepare you for trial and represent you in court.
Most personal injury attorneys work with a contingency agreement. So if you decide to file an American Family Insurance lawsuit, you might not pay your attorney upfront. Instead, if you get any settlements, in the end, you give a percentage of that settlement to your attorney to cover the cost. This is usually between 30% and 40%.
So if a lawyer helps you recover that much more—or achieve a settlement when you wouldn’t have got one—then hiring them can be a good investment.
In order to find a good lawyer for an American Family Insurance lawsuit, you need to be willing to interview multiple attorneys until you find the person with whom you’re most comfortable.
When you talk to different attorneys, be sure to ask about the fee schedule. Even if an attorney has a contingency agreement, they might still charge you for additional things like travel, or the cost of medical documentation.
Personal injury is a large field, so make sure the attorneys you interview have experience with the specific type of injury you have sustained and possibly experience working with American Family Insurance. You also want to talk to them about their experience. Don’t be afraid to ask for references from previous clients.
It is important that you are comfortable with the attorney you consider because personal injury lawsuits can take a long time, so you’ll spend a lot of time communicating with the lawyer you hire. If you don’t get a good vibe from one attorney, it’s okay to seek out a different one.
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