There’s only one scenario where I think it is wise to accept the insurance adjuster’s first offer in your injury claim.
My Background
Right out of law school, I worked on behalf of insurance companies defending injury claims in court. During this experience, I learned several methods insurance companies would use to minimize their payout to injury victims.
Client Story
Let me tell you about a story about one of my past clients. This was a client injured in a rear-end car accident. She contacted me several months after her car accident looking for help. She had been handling her injury case on her own and was completely lost as to what to do next, even though the insurance company had admitted liability for the accident on her claim.
Pre-Existing Conditions
This client had had pretty significant neck problems prior to her car accident that she had already been treating for prior to the accident. The car accident aggravated her problems. She did not even seek medical treatment for her neck until weeks after the accident, when she was scheduled to meet with the doctor who was already treating her for her neck problems prior to the car accident.
Initial Contact
When the client called me, she had just completed a neck surgery, again, several months after her car accident. The insurance company had not yet offered her a penny on her case.
Medical Records and Demand
After this client hired me, I immediately requested and gathered her medical records and bills from all her treatment following the accident, including the surgery records. I then sent a written demand to the insurance adjuster, demanding they pay out their insurance policy limits.
Insurance Company’s Response
In response to my demand, the insurance adjuster only made an offer of $5,000, arguing that my client’s surgery was not related to the car accident as she would have had the surgery regardless of the car accident. This is a common argument made by insurance companies. Based on my recommendation, my client allowed me to proceed with informing the insurance company that my client declined their offer of $5,000.
Independent Medical Examination
I then sent my client to a doctor to perform an independent medical examination on her. After performing the examination on her, the doctor provided me with a written report in which the doctor confirmed that her neck condition was aggravated by the car accident and the neck surgery was appropriate, reasonable, and necessary as a result of the motor vehicle accident.
Further Negotiations
I then sent the doctor’s report to the insurance company and again demanded the insurance adjuster pay out the insurance policy. The insurance adjuster then responded with an offer of $10,000. My client and I then rejected this offer, and I filed a lawsuit on my client’s behalf against the insurance company’s insured driver, who caused the accident.
Litigation and Settlement
During the litigation of the case, I consistently stuck to our demand offer for the policy limits. The insurance company finally gave in and we were able to settle the case for the six-figure policy limits I demanded when I started. Had the insurance company offered the policy limits when I started working on the case, I would have recommended to my client then to accept the policy limits offer.
Conclusion
So what can you learn from all this? You should never accept the first offer made by the insurance company in your injury case unless that offer is for the policy limits. If the insurance company offers you the policy limits, that is the only time in my opinion that you should even consider accepting that policy limits offer. Insurance companies know some injury victims will accept the first offer. If the insurance company makes you an initial offer below the insurance policy limits, they plan to make a higher offer to you so long as you negotiate further. Thus, I cannot repeat this enough. Never accept the insurance company’s first offer in an injury case unless that offer is for the policy limits.
If you have a question for me, please leave your question in the comment section of this video and I’ll be happy to answer your question. I hope that you have found this video to be helpful. Please subscribe to my YouTube channel to learn more about the ins and outs of injury cases and watch more of my videos. Lastly, if you were injured in a motor vehicle accident, slip or trip and fall incident, or dog bite incident in Kentucky, remember to don’t wait – call Tate.
Recent Comments