Your personal injury lawyer will tell you that the insurance adjusters work begins the minute you file a personal injury claim with an insurer. You’ll likely be dealing with an insurance company if and when you want to be compensated for a personal injury accident. You and your lawyer would likely work out a settlement with the insurance company of the at-fault driver if you were ever involved in a car accident. On the other hand, if you were to file a claim after having suffered a slip and fall accident at someone else’s home, you and your lawyer would likely be dealing with the homeowner’s and liability insurance companies of the homeowner.
Injury Lawyer in Richmond Hill know that insurance adjusters have one main goal. That is to investigate the claim and determine the appropriate settlement amount. This is calculated based on the worth (in dollars) that the adjuster assigns to the claim. The adjuster’s main job is to try to give you as low of a settlement amount as possible. They are also trying to avoid going to court if at all possible. He or she knows that you may be awarded an extremely high settlement amount by the courts if the jury is on your side. The insurance company will also have to pay for legal fees and related costs out of pocket if the case goes to trial.
How an insurance adjuster decides on an offer?
Injury Lawyer in Richmond Hill will tell you that insurance adjusters look at many factors when deciding what your claim is worth. These tend to be the same factors that juries would consider if your case were to go to court. These include:
● Actual and future expenses
● Lost income and/or los ability to earn
● Pain and suffering, and
● Other negative effects of your injuries. It doesn’t matter if they’re short or long-term
It’s easy to determine the expenses portion of damages. However, negative effects and pain and suffering are much more difficult to calculate accurately.The policy limits of the defendant’s insurance and the strength of your case have equal and important weightage when the adjuster is trying to determine your final settlement amount.
Policy limits
You are not going to get more than $500,000 in a settlement amount if the defendant’s insurance policy limit is $500,000. It doesn’t matter how extensive your injuries and pain and suffering are!
The strength of your case
You’re the plaintiff. And if you have a very strong case then the insurance adjuster will definitely offer you a high settlement amount because you’d probably win your case in court. However, if you have a weak case, you may only get a few hundred dollars in settlement amount because the adjuster knows that you’d probably lose your case in court.
Dealing with an insurance company
There are some things to consider and discuss with your lawyer before the two of you talk with the defendant’s insurance company.
● It would be in your best interest to hire a lawyer – if you hire a lawyer, the adjuster will know that you are taking your claim and injuries seriously. What’s more is that he or she knows that you’ll probably sue in court if you don’t get the settlement that you want and deserve.
● Have enough evidence to prove your injuries – this can be in the form of photos, personal journals, medical records, and statements of lost income and wages and bills paid to date.
● Send the insurer a demand letter – you’ll get to tell the adjuster your side of the accident in detail. You’ll also be justifying your claim and demands for the settlement that you are asking for with real evidence.
It is indeed possible to outsmart the insurance adjuster provided that you hire a good personal injury lawyer.