How we settle an Auto Accident claim
Claims Representative Negotiation
After the insurance company receives your attorney’s letter, a claim representative will get in contact with them and together, they must negotiate and finally agree on an appropriate settlement amount. This is the process where it is especially beneficial to have your attorney handling your settlement claim because it is very much a negotiation and having an attorney experienced at arguing for clients during this process is valuable. Here are some reasons why:
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They will both go over the strong areas of your arguments and then the weaker areas of your arguments. The Claims Representative will also go over their strong and weak points. Sometimes they bring up something that you haven’t considered before that is a good perspective and because your attorney is experienced in settling claims, they will know if it is a perspective worth running with or not. The Claims Representative will also offer an amount quite a bit lower than the amount your lawyer asked. Your lawyer will not just accept their first offer, but will counter with a higher amount than theirs, but a little lower than your original amount you asked for.
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If the claims representative’s first offer is unreasonably low, your lawyer will ask the claims representative to give them exact reasons why the offer is so low and then to justify them. After the phone call, your lawyer will write another letter to the insurance company again disputing their points. The next time they talk to them, they will ask them for a response to the arguments made against their low offer arguments.
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Your attorney will begin the negotiation with a minimum amount of money you’ve decided you’ll take (that amount will be decided after you meet with your attorney).
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Your lawyer will state not only the facts in the phone calls, but also the emotional damage.
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After about 2-3 calls, your attorney and the Claim Representative will come to a settlement amount. Afterward, your attorney will put this in writing, send a letter to the insurance company stating the amount you have settled on, and what damages that amount is supposed to be covering.
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The insurance company should provide your lawyer with settlement papers. At that point, you’ll work with your lawyer to finish settlement.
So why would you need a lawyer in all of this? Do you need one? One thing to consider is the fact that many insurance companies are vehement about giving you very little money for your claim. If your Claim Representative is adamant with an unreasonably low settlement amount, it will be more difficult to get away with it when your attorney is the one negotiating. You can have a free consultation with us, so go ahead and give us a call. We’ll do everything we can to help.
