Key Takeaways
Insurance companies use tactics including recorded statements, biased IMEs, unlimited medical record requests, pre-existing condition blame, delays, and lowball offers. Georgia's bad faith statute (O.C.G.A. § 33-4-6) imposes penalties up to 50% plus attorney fees. South Carolina's Act (S.C. Code § 38-59-20) provides similar protections. Never give a recorded statement or sign a blanket medical release without consulting an attorney.
If you have been injured in an accident in Georgia or South Carolina, the insurance company handling your claim is not your ally. Despite friendly phone calls and promises to “take care of everything,” insurers are publicly traded corporations with a financial incentive to pay you as little as possible — or nothing at all. Understanding the specific tactics adjusters use gives you the leverage to protect your claim and avoid costly mistakes. The Cornell Law Institute’s overview of insurance law provides useful background on how insurers’ legal obligations differ from their actual practices.
Whether your case involves a car accident, a commercial truck wreck, or a slip-and-fall on someone else’s property, the playbook insurers follow is remarkably consistent. Below are the most common tactics used to deny or devalue personal injury claims in Georgia and South Carolina, along with the legal tools available to fight back.
Requesting Recorded Statements to Trap You
One of the first things an adjuster will do after an accident is call and ask for a recorded statement, framing it as routine or mandatory. It is neither. You have no legal obligation to provide a recorded statement to the at-fault party’s insurer in Georgia or South Carolina.
The purpose is to lock you into answers that can be used against you. Adjusters ask leading questions — “Were you feeling okay right after the accident?” or “Could you have done anything differently?” — designed to create the impression that your injuries are minor or that you share blame.
In Georgia, where the modified comparative fault rule under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33 bars recovery if you are 50% or more at fault, even a minor admission of partial responsibility can be devastating. South Carolina applies a similar threshold — you cannot recover if you are found 51% or more at fault. A casual comment in a recorded statement can become the centerpiece of a comparative fault defense.
If an adjuster contacts you, politely decline to give a recorded statement and speak with an attorney first. This is especially critical in motorcycle accident claims and pedestrian accident cases, where insurers frequently try to assign blame to the injured victim.
Sending You to an “Independent” Medical Exam (IME)
Insurance companies regularly request that injured claimants submit to an “independent” medical examination. The name is misleading. These exams are conducted by doctors selected and paid by the insurance company, and the results almost always favor the insurer.
IME doctors are repeat vendors for insurance carriers. They make substantial income from conducting these exams, and doctors who consistently produce findings unfavorable to the insurer stop getting referrals. The examination itself is often brief — sometimes only 10 to 15 minutes — and the resulting report frequently concludes that the claimant’s injuries are less severe than their treating physician documented.
In Georgia, the defendant can compel an IME under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-35 once a case is in litigation. In South Carolina, S.C. Rule of Civil Procedure 35 governs compulsory medical exams. Before litigation, you generally have the right to refuse. If you do attend an IME, bring a witness or request to record the examination.
This tactic is especially common in traumatic brain injury claims and spinal cord injury cases, where the long-term cost of treatment is substantial and insurers have the most to gain by disputing severity.
Demanding Unlimited Access to Medical Records
After filing a claim, you will likely be asked to sign a medical authorization form granting the insurance company access to your medical records. What adjusters often fail to mention is that the authorization they provide is far broader than what your claim requires. Many of these forms are written to give the insurer access to your entire lifetime medical history — every doctor visit, prescription, therapy session, and unrelated condition going back decades.
The insurer’s goal is to find anything that could be used to argue your current injuries are pre-existing or unrelated to the accident. A back complaint from five years ago or routine chiropractic visits can be twisted into an argument that the accident did not cause your condition.
You should never sign a blanket medical authorization. In Georgia and South Carolina, you are only obligated to provide records relevant to the injuries you are claiming. Your attorney can prepare a limited authorization covering only the treating providers and timeframe connected to your accident.
Blaming Pre-Existing Conditions
Insurance companies love pre-existing conditions. If you had any prior injury or medical issue affecting the same body part, the insurer will argue the accident did not cause your current symptoms. This tactic is used even when the claimant’s prior condition was fully resolved before the accident.
The law in both Georgia and South Carolina protects injured victims through the eggshell plaintiff doctrine. Under Georgia law, a defendant takes the plaintiff as they find them — if a person with a pre-existing spinal condition suffers an aggravation of that condition in a wreck, the defendant is liable for the full extent of the aggravation. South Carolina follows the same principle. The insurer cannot escape liability simply because the victim was more vulnerable to injury than an average person.
Georgia also recognizes aggravation of a pre-existing condition as a compensable injury. If a collision turned a manageable back problem into a condition requiring surgery, the at-fault party owes damages for the worsening. The same rule applies in South Carolina.
Insurers will still try to attribute your entire condition to pre-existing issues, particularly in workers’ compensation cases where claimants often have years of documented physical wear on their bodies.
Delaying the Claims Process
Delay is one of the most effective weapons in the insurance company’s arsenal. Adjusters know that injured people are often out of work, facing mounting medical bills, and under financial pressure. The longer the insurer drags out the process, the more desperate the claimant becomes — and the more likely they are to accept a fraction of what the claim is worth.
Common delay tactics include repeatedly requesting the same documents, claiming paperwork was lost, transferring your file to a new adjuster, and failing to return phone calls for weeks. Some insurers delay strategically to push the claim closer to the statute of limitations deadline, hoping the claimant will give up or run out of time to file suit.
In Georgia, the statute of limitations for personal injury is two years from the date of injury under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33. In South Carolina, the deadline is three years under S.C. Code § 15-3-530. If the insurer can stall past these deadlines, your legal right to sue evaporates entirely — and so does your negotiating leverage.
This is why it is critical to hire an attorney early. Once a lawyer is involved, the insurer must communicate through your attorney, and strategic delays become far more difficult to sustain.
Offering Quick Lowball Settlements
On the opposite end from delay is the quick lowball offer. Within days of an accident, an adjuster may contact you with a settlement that sounds reasonable when you are facing mounting bills. But these early offers are calculated to close the claim before you understand the full extent of your injuries.
A settlement signed in the first week after a car accident cannot account for injuries that take weeks or months to manifest. Herniated discs, soft tissue damage, and concussions often worsen over time. If you accept the insurer’s first offer and later need surgery or long-term rehabilitation, the release you signed extinguishes your right to pursue additional compensation.
In both Georgia and South Carolina, a signed settlement release is a binding contract. Courts will not set it aside because you did not understand the full scope of your injuries. Never accept a settlement offer without consulting an attorney who can evaluate the long-term cost of your injuries.
Disputing Causation and Severity
Even when liability is clear, insurers frequently challenge the connection between the accident and your injuries. An adjuster might argue that the collision was “too minor” to cause the injuries you are claiming, that there was a “gap in treatment” suggesting your injuries are not serious, or that your symptoms are exaggerated.
The “low impact” defense is especially common. Insurers hire biomechanical engineers to testify that a vehicle at a certain speed could not have produced enough force to cause the claimed injuries. This ignores the medical reality that occupants can suffer significant injuries in low-speed collisions, particularly to the cervical spine.
Treatment gaps are another weapon. If you waited two weeks to see a doctor, the insurer will argue that a truly injured person would have sought immediate care. There are legitimate reasons for delayed treatment — shock, lack of insurance, gradual symptom onset — but the insurance company will exploit any gap.
This tactic shows up regularly in dog bite claims and premises liability cases, where insurers argue that the injury could have happened somewhere else or that the victim is overstating the severity.
Bad Faith Insurance Practices in Georgia
Georgia law provides meaningful penalties when an insurance company acts in bad faith. Under O.C.G.A. § 33-4-6, if an insurer refuses to pay a claim without reasonable cause, the policyholder can recover the claim amount plus up to 50% of the liability in penalties, plus reasonable attorney’s fees. This statute applies to first-party claims — meaning claims you file against your own insurer.
Georgia also recognizes a common law bad faith cause of action for third-party claims. If a liability insurer unreasonably refuses to settle within policy limits and the claimant obtains a judgment exceeding those limits, the insurer may be liable for the excess. This creates powerful leverage when the at-fault driver’s insurer is stonewalling a legitimate claim.
Common examples of bad faith conduct in Georgia include failing to conduct a reasonable investigation, denying a claim without providing a valid reason, refusing to negotiate in good faith, and misrepresenting policy language to avoid coverage. If you suspect your insurer is acting in bad faith after a truck accident or wrongful death claim, document every communication and consult an attorney immediately.
Bad Faith Insurance Practices in South Carolina
South Carolina addresses insurer misconduct through the Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act under S.C. Code § 38-59-20. This statute prohibits insurers from engaging in unfair or deceptive practices in claim handling. Violations include making misleading statements about coverage, failing to act promptly on communications, and not attempting in good faith to effectuate fair settlements when liability is reasonably clear.
South Carolina also recognizes a private cause of action for bad faith refusal to pay benefits. In Nichols v. State Farm, the South Carolina Supreme Court established that an insured can bring a tort action against their insurer for bad faith denial of coverage, potentially recovering actual damages, consequential damages, and punitive damages. Unlike Georgia’s statutory penalty cap, South Carolina punitive damages in bad faith cases can be substantial, limited only by constitutional due process constraints.
The South Carolina Department of Insurance also accepts complaints against insurers engaging in unfair claims practices, creating an official record of the insurer’s conduct that can support subsequent litigation.
GA vs SC Bad Faith Comparison Table
| Factor | Georgia | South Carolina |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Bad Faith Statute | O.C.G.A. § 33-4-6 | S.C. Code § 38-59-20 (Unfair Claims Practices Act) |
| Statutory Penalty | Up to 50% of claim amount + attorney’s fees | No fixed statutory penalty; actual + consequential damages |
| Punitive Damages | Available under common law bad faith | Available; can be substantial (no fixed statutory cap) |
| First-Party Bad Faith | Yes — statutory cause of action | Yes — tort cause of action (Nichols v. State Farm) |
| Third-Party Bad Faith | Yes — excess judgment liability | Yes — excess judgment liability |
| Statute of Limitations (PI) | 2 years (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33) | 3 years (S.C. Code § 15-3-530) |
| Comparative Fault Standard | Modified — barred at 50% fault (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33) | Modified — barred at 51% fault |
| Regulatory Oversight | Georgia Office of Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner | South Carolina Department of Insurance |
How a Personal Injury Lawyer Fights Back
An experienced personal injury attorney knows these tactics because they see them in every case. Here is how legal representation changes the dynamic:
Blocking harmful communications. Once you retain a lawyer, the insurer must direct all communication through your attorney. No more recorded statements. No more pressure calls. No more attempts to get you to say something that damages your claim.
Controlling the medical narrative. Your attorney will ensure that only relevant medical records are disclosed and that your treating physicians — not insurance-hired IME doctors — drive the narrative about your injuries. If the insurer disputes your diagnosis, your lawyer can retain independent medical experts to provide objective opinions.
Documenting the full value of your claim. Insurance companies count on claimants not understanding what their case is worth. A lawyer calculates the complete cost of your injuries, including future medical expenses, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, and diminished quality of life. This is particularly important in catastrophic cases involving traumatic brain injuries or spinal cord damage, where lifetime costs can reach millions of dollars.
Filing suit when necessary. The threat of litigation changes insurer behavior. Once a lawsuit is filed, the case moves into the legal department, where the cost-benefit analysis shifts dramatically. Discovery can reveal internal claim-handling guidelines designed to minimize payouts and communications showing the insurer knew the claim was valid.
Leveraging bad faith claims. In both Georgia and South Carolina, the potential for bad faith penalties and punitive damages creates pressure on insurers to act reasonably. An attorney who understands these laws can use them strategically to force fair treatment of your claim.
Whether your case involves a motorcycle accident, a wrongful death, or a pedestrian collision, legal representation levels the playing field against insurers that have entire departments dedicated to minimizing payouts.
Contact Roden Law — Free Case Review
If an insurance company is delaying your claim, offering a settlement that does not cover your medical bills, or denying your case altogether, you do not have to fight them alone. Roden Law represents injured clients across Georgia and South Carolina on a contingency fee basis — you pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you.
With more than $300 million recovered for our clients and offices in Savannah, Darien, Charleston, Columbia, and Myrtle Beach, our attorneys have the resources and experience to take on the largest insurance carriers and hold them accountable.
Call 1-844-RESULTS or contact us online for a free, no-obligation consultation. The sooner you have a lawyer involved, the harder it becomes for the insurance company to take advantage of you.
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