Unless the first offer by the insurance company in your car accident injury case is an offer to pay the policy limits, you can usually negotiate a higher settlement even if you did not sustain a broken bone or have to have surgery. Let me show you how in this video. To do so, let me tell you the story of my past client, Ryan.
Ryan’s Story
Ryan was involved in a two-vehicle car accident. He was driving his pickup truck on a two-lane road when the driver of the other vehicle, traveling in the opposite direction, came over into his lane and collided with Ryan’s vehicle. The collision knocked Ryan’s vehicle into a ditch on the side of the road. After the accident, Ryan took photographs depicting the scene of the accident. These photographs helped us prove the other driver was at fault.
The photographs showed the skid marks caused by my client’s truck when he braked to try to avoid the collision, and the skid marks revealed that my client never left his lane of travel. It was thus clear based on the evidence that the other driver had to have crossed the center lane into Ryan’s lane of travel to cause this wreck. Before Ryan even called me for help, he did the right thing by taking these photographs, which ultimately helped us show the other driver was at fault in the accident.
We sent these photographs to the other driver’s insurance company, and after reviewing the photographs, the other driver’s insurance company admitted its insured driver was liable in the car accident. After the accident, Ryan focused on getting the medical treatment he needed. He sustained injuries to his neck, back, and right arm. He was transported by ambulance to the hospital from the scene of the accident. At the hospital, diagnostic testing was performed, and he was discharged after confirming Ryan did not sustain any broken bones or fractures.
Ryan’s Medical Treatment
After he was discharged, Ryan continued to get medical treatment, including chiropractic and pain management treatment. About a month and a half after the accident, Ryan also had an MRI on his low back which revealed he had three bulging discs in his low back. Ryan missed a little bit of time from work due to his injuries and ultimately concluded his chiropractic and pain management treatment just a tad over four months following the accident.
Once he completed his medical treatment, we obtained all of Ryan’s medical records and bills for medical treatment associated with his accident. We also were able to get his employer to fill out a form that documented the amount of time he missed from work and his pay rate so we could prove his lost wages. To initiate settlement negotiations, I then sent a demand letter along with all of the evidence we had gathered on the case to the other driver’s insurance company’s adjuster, demanding that they pay out their insured driver’s policy limits.
Negotiating the Settlement
In response to our demand, the insurance adjuster eventually made an initial offer of $42,000 to settle Ryan’s case. This was not a bad first offer, but I knew Ryan’s case had more value and that the other driver’s insurance company would be willing to negotiate with me. If the first offer by the insurance company is not an offer to pay you the policy limits, it’s highly likely that the insurance company will be willing to negotiate further.
After getting the initial offer in Ryan’s case, myself, with Ryan’s authority, and the other driver’s insurance company adjuster negotiated back and forth for a little over a month. After they made the initial offer of $42,000, I made a counter-demand offer. They then made an offer in response to my offer, which was followed by another counter-demand offer. The negotiations went back and forth like that for a little over a month until we were eventually able to settle Ryan’s case for just under $60,000.
Since Ryan also got $10,000 in personal injury protection benefits, this means his total recovery was just under $70,000. Despite not sustaining any broken bones or needing surgery, we were still able to negotiate a fair and reasonable settlement in Ryan’s case without even having to file a lawsuit. In my opinion, it’s never in your best interest to accept the insurance company’s first initial offer unless the insurance company is offering the policy limits. It may take some more time to negotiate back and forth with the insurance adjuster, but it can be worth it.
Why You Should Negotiate
While we were able to get Ryan over $17,000 more than the initial offer made by the insurance company, I’ve had several cases where we were able to get double, triple, five times, or even up to 20 times the initial offer made by the insurance company. At the end of the day, it is worth your time to negotiate a higher settlement in your car accident injury case.
What If You Get Offered the Policy Limits?
The thing is, what happens if you get offered the other driver’s policy limits? Well, what if I told you that it’s possible in some cases to get a financial recovery beyond the other driver’s insurance policy limits? And in this video about to pop up here, I will tell you how you can possibly maximize your car accident settlement beyond the other driver’s policy limits.
Lastly, if you’ve been injured in a car accident, slip or trip and fall accident, or dog attack incident in Kentucky, remember to don’t wait, call Tate.
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