An interesting article on CNN.com last week detailed how insurance companies like to play hardball with personal injury victims during minor car crash claims and further reveals the importance of having an experienced personal injury attorney on your side to stand up for your rights. CNN conducted an 18-month investigation into minor-impact soft-tissue injury crashes, or instances in which there is little damage to the vehicle and sustained personal injuries are not easily seen by the naked eye or even X-rays, and revealed some disturbing details about insurance companies.

Specifically, the CNN investigation detailed how Allstate and State Farm worked with consulting giant McKinsey & Co. in the mid-1990s and determined that soft-tissue injuries would be a great avenue for profits. According to a former Allstate and State Farm employee in the story, both companies developed a strategy focusing on three D’s – denying a soft-tissue injury claim, delaying settlement of the claim and defending against the claim in court.

Another former Allstate employer detailed in the CNN story how the company encouraged claims agents to get rid of claims quickly by offering victims as little as $50. If a victim didn’t accept this take-it-or-leave-it offer, these insurance companies were more than happy to use their massive resources to drag out cases in court. The story also detailed how these insurance companies stressed the importance of dragging out personal injury lawsuits to the point where they would become too time-consuming, frustrating and fruitless for personal injury attorneys and victims. According to the story, insurance companies have made billions off similar strategies while many plaintiffs have been left with little if anything at all.

Both Allstate and State Farm declined interviews for the story. A State Farm spokesman did send CNN an email saying that the company did work with McKinsey to improve claims handling but stopped using the program in 1999. This story is a good example of the true colors of insurance companies and further demonstrates why insurance companies are not your friends during personal injury cases.