The insurer assigns the various submitted claims to different adjusters. Each insurance adjuster then starts working on his or her assigned claim. Each adjuster is supposed to figure out what took place at the time of the reported accident, and then estimate the value of the submitted claim.
Adjusters’ 2 goals
Get the claimant to accept the lowest possible payout
Avoid a lawsuit by making a fair offer
What adjusters consider before making any offer:
• The victim’s/claimant’s medical expenses
• The value of the claimant’s lost income
• The amount of pain and suffering endured by the victim
• Any other negative effects that had the ability to disrupt the victim’s lifestyle
• The limits stated in the defendant’s insurance policy, with respect to the maximum size for the delivered benefit
• The strength of the claimant’s case: What would a jury be apt to award the claimant, if this case were to go to trial?
The ways that a claimant could send a message to the appropriate adjuster, the one that has been asked to work on the submitted claim.
Smart claimants hire a lawyer. When adjusters learn that any of their claimants have chosen to retain an attorney, then they receive a clear message. That message tells them that the client/claimant cares greatly about his or her rights. That should drive home the point that the adjusters’ offer needs to be fair.
Together with a Personal Injury Lawyer in Cambridge, the claimant should compose a demand letter. That letter should give one party’s interpretation of what happened at the time of the accident. It should explain why the defendant has been named as the responsible party.
The demand letter should end with the presentation of a demand. The demand’s inclusion in that written communication shows the adjuster what amount to consider, when making the first offer. In that way it cancels out any possible plans for having the adjuster’s first offer be one that could be classed as lowball.
The piece of information that should not be shared with any adjusters
While considering the demand, the claimant should also give thought to the lowest offer that he or she would be willing to accept. By having that figure in their mind, claimants should find it easier to judge how to respond to the adjuster’s bid/offer.
That is especially true, following presentation of the initial bid. If that bid comes close to the figure in the claimant’s mind, then that mental figure ought to be raised. Unless there exists a large gap between the initial bid and the claimants demand, it becomes difficult to proceed with the negotiations. The negotiations are meant to help the 2 sides move closer together, until arriving at an agreeable number, the settlement.
