Get the facts you need to stand strong against pressure to accept an unfair settlement following a motor vehicle accident.
After any kind of motor vehicle accident, you will probably be feeling very overwhelmed. You may be desperate for help and guidance, and eager for someone to just tell you what to do to make all your troubles go away.
Here is what you need to remember:
The insurance adjuster is not the friend you are looking for.
The insurance adjuster will probably contact you relatively quickly after your accident, possibly with a settlement offer that may sound pretty attractive. However, it is important to remember that the insurance adjuster’s priorities are very different from your own. They work for the insurance company, and the insurance company’s goal is always to minimize damages paid out in order to maximize profits for its shareholders.
In order to help their employers achieve this goal, insurance adjusters often mislead, misinform, or outright lie to motor vehicle accident victims in an attempt to convince them to accept a lowball settlement offer and forfeit any future right to bring a personal injury lawsuit against the person who caused the accident, aka the insurance company’s client.
Here are 4 common lies that you may hear from an insurance adjuster following a motor vehicle accident.
This is My Best Offer: Insurance adjusters often lead injured individuals to believe that their first offer is their best offer. In reality, the first offer is NEVER the best offer. Insurance adjusters are given a dollar range to work with on every claim and like any negotiator they will start with the lowest possible amount they think you might accept and work upwards from there. You might be surprised to find that as soon as you bring a qualified motor vehicle accident attorney to the negotiation table, that “best offer” suddenly gets a whole lot better.
You Have To Sign Now: In the case of a serious injury, recovery can be a lengthy and complicated process. It may be impossible to determine your likely future costs with any degree of accuracy within the first days or weeks after the accident. Yet an insurance adjuster might push you to settle anyway. They might even tell you that they are only authorized to offer a particular settlement amount for a limited period of time so you had better sign right away. Beware of this tactic! As soon as you sign the release to secure your settlement, you also give up your right to seek damages in court. This means if complications arise with your recovery you will not be able to go back and ask for more compensation.
Pain & Suffering Is Not Worth Much: Another very damaging lie that insurance adjusters sometimes tell is that pain and suffering is not worth anything, or is worth at best a couple hundred extra dollars. In reality, pain and suffering is a significant area of recovery. With help from a skilled motor vehicle accident attorney, you may be able to recover a very high amount of damages for pain and suffering.
You Cannot Afford to Go to Court: One final lie that you must not believe is that you should accept any settlement offer you may be given because this will save you from the expense of going to court. In reality, going to court will not cost you a dime out of pocket. Any good motor vehicle accident attorney, including Fernando D. Vargas, will provide no-risk representation to qualified clients, with all fees to be paid out of your future settlement. You may also be able to borrow against your future settlement to cover your daily living expenses during the period leading up to the trial if needed.
