You need to ignore the insurance company if they tell you what I’m about to tell you in this video. If you don’t ignore them, you will be stuck with getting no money or significantly less money for your injury claim.
To illustrate my point, let me tell you the story of my past client, Anna.
Anna’s Story
Anna’s case involved a car accident, but what I’m about to teach you in this video will apply to any type of injury case, including not only automobile accidents, but also slip and trip and fall incidents, dog attack cases, and any other type of personal injury case.
Anna was involved in a rear-end motor vehicle accident. The vehicle she occupied was rear-ended by an inattentive driver. After the car accident, she did not go in an ambulance, but managed to get a ride from her friend to the hospital. As a result of the accident, Anna suffered injuries to her head, left hand, neck, left knee, shoulders, and low back.
Diagnostic testing was performed at the hospital, but it did not reveal that Anna sustained any broken bones. She was, however, diagnosed with a concussion. After she was released from the hospital, Anna sought additional medical treatment, including physical therapy and pain management treatment. When it was all said and done, Anna’s medical bills totaled a little less than $27,000.
I sent a demand package on behalf of Anna to the at-fault driver’s insurance company, demanding that they pay out the insurance policy limits. In response to our demand, however, I got an initial offer of under $17,000 to settle Anna’s case. The insurance adjuster on the case advised he didn’t think the case had much value beyond their initial offer, and while they had some room to improve, they didn’t think the case had much value beyond their initial offer.
I knew Anna’s case was worth more than that low-ball offer, so I ignored what the adjuster said about the case having not much more value, and I filed a lawsuit against the at-fault driver. I was determined to show the insurance company that we would only settle the case for a fair and reasonable amount, not close to their initial low-ball offer.
After filing the lawsuit for Anna, I was not done. I continued to litigate her case through the court system. With Anna’s help, I answered written discovery questions on behalf of Anna that were sent over by the defense lawyer retained by the other driver’s insurance company. I sent over written discovery questions to opposing counsel for the at-fault driver to answer. We prepared and produced Anna for her deposition.
I communicated with the defense attorney via phone calls and several emails discussing the case. I also moved for a trial date, and we were ordered by the court to mediate the case. We ultimately complied with the court’s order and mediated the case a month prior to the trial date.
Mediation is a settlement conference where a neutral party known as a mediator assists the parties in trying to reach a settlement in the case. At mediation, just a month prior, we were able to settle Anna’s case for nearly $90,000, which was well over five times the amount of the initial offer on Anna’s case.
The Key Move
The key move by us in the case was ignoring the insurance adjuster when he said the case did not have much more value than their initial offer and that they would not offer much more than their initial offer amount. The insurance company adjuster was bluffing. I knew the case had more value than the low-ball amount being offered, so I aggressively pursued the case further through the court system.
If you have an injury case worth a significant amount more than what the insurance company is offering you, you should ignore what they have to say about your case and aggressively pursue the case further. Insurance companies only see you as a number. They know that by making low-ball offers on injury claims, many injury victims will end up taking that low-ball offer rather than putting in the time and effort to get a fair and reasonable settlement.
If the insurance company makes you a low-ball offer, ignore what they have to say about your case and pursue your claim through the court system.
Next Steps
The thing is, just because you have ignored the insurance company after they have made you a low-ball offer, the insurance company is not going to just roll over and offer you more money. In fact, it’s crucial to prepare to take your case towards a trial if you want a fair and reasonable settlement. And in this video about to pop up here, I’ll tell you how preparing to take your case the distance could get you a fair settlement.
Lastly, if you’ve been injured in a car accident, slip or trip and fall incident, or dog attack incident in Kentucky, remember: don’t wait, call Tate.
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