3 Tips That Will Help You Deal With Insurance Companies

Providing a just and fair compensation to a victim in the aftermath of an accident isn’t at the top of most insurance companies’ priority list. Read our blog to learn how to effectively deal with insurers in order to negotiate a just and fair settlement for your injuries.

Medical bills, ongoing rehabilitation costs, car repairs, and car rental are just a few of the most common expenses a car accident victim may need to deal with. Such losses are usually considerable, unexpected and can prove to be disruptive to the financial security of the affected individual and their household. Even if a person enjoys a stable income and has a strong, flexible budget, it may be a challenge to cover all of such unforeseen expenses out of one’s own pocket. Naturally, then, most accident victims turn to their insurance companies, expecting to be quickly and fairly reimbursed for their losses. After all, years of even decades of paying premiums to the insurer no doubt warrant their loyalty and service in the time of need. Or do they?

If you ever dealt with an insurance company in circumstances similar to those described above, you may already know that obtaining compensation from your insurer is rarely that easy. Insurance companies are first and foremost business and, as such, they are designed to make a profit. Unfortunately, the less money they pay out to their clients in relation to compensation claims, the more profit they are able to turn. That’s why some insurance companies resort to unfair or even dishonest practices to minimize the value of claims or even completely deny them.

However, there are proven strategies that you can learn and use in your dealings with an insurance company to increase your chances of obtaining just and fair compensation. In this article, we present 3 such strategies to help you settle your claim for what it’s really worth.

Tip 1: Don’t Give in to a Pressure for a Quick Settlement

As noted, the aftermath of a car accident can quickly strain your budget, leaving you in dire financial straits. In fact, a recent survey shows that two-thirds of people who file for bankruptcy do so due to the high cost of healthcare and pending medical bills. And while not every who struggles with high medical expenses is necessarily an accident victim, the fact of the matter is that if you need to file an insurance claim, you’re often in desperate need of money.

Insurance companies know that all too well. That’s why an insurer’s representative may try to press you for a quick settlement, offering you a settlement value way below the actual worth of your claim. If you go with your first instinct, you may be tempted to accept the offer. However, you need to realize that the only reason the insurance company wants you to settle quickly is that such settlement is almost always cheaper for the insurer. In many cases, as time passes, new facts about your injury and your claim may come to light. For example, it may turn out that your injury is more serious than initially thought – and this can increase the worth of your claim.

Therefore, when dealing with an insurance company’s agent or a claim’s adjuster you need to remember that their first settlement offer is almost invariably too low and you should not agree to it despite your financial woes. This strategy will help you obtain the compensation that will allow you to cover your financial losses to the greatest extent possible.

Tip 2: Be Wary of Admitting Fault or Responsibility

When dealing with an insurance company, you should assume that everything you say can be used against you. If your statements about the accident and its circumstances or about your injuries sound apologetic or defensive, the insurer may easily spin them as a partial admission of fault or liability for the mishap. Depending on the nature of your claim, this may either result in greatly decreasing the worth of your claim or even in completely depriving you of your right to compensation.

Therefore, when talking to an agent or a claim adjuster, stick to the facts and don’t offer unsolicited information. You should exercise special caution about what you say when filing a third-party claim – that is, when trying to obtain compensation from the insurance company representing the party responsible for the accident. In such circumstances, you should assume that the insurer’s negotiator will actively work against your interests and your claim. That’s why in most cases, in order to avoid common pitfalls, it is best to hire a qualified personal injury lawyer to represent you against a third-party insurer. In addition, you should always decline to make a recorded statement without consulting it with your attorney first.

Tip 3: Do Not Sign Medical Releases for a Third-Party Insurer

Medical documentation is private, personal information and as such is deemed confidential. A medical release is a document that authorizes healthcare professionals to share medical records with other parties. In order to obtain financial compensation from your own insurer, you may need to sign a medical release. However, singing such a document for an insurance company representing the driver responsible for the accident in which you’ve been injured may bury your chances for getting compensated.

A third-party insurer would like to know your medical records in order to find the information they may later use to belittle the impact of the accident on your health. For example, they may try to prove that your injuries were compounded by an underlying condition that you have and use this to negotiate a lower settlement. While you may need some of your medical records to support your claim, you need to be shrewd and selective about what documents to present to a third-party insurer. Again, in order to increase your chances for a just settlement, it may be best to discuss this issue with a qualified attorney first.

When dealing with an insurance company in relation to a compensation claim, the stakes are high and the mistakes are easy to make. By applying the 3 tips discussed in this article, you will no doubt increase your chances for a just and fair settlement. However, many individuals see the need for contacting a qualified attorney to ensure that their rights will be respected and their interests protected in a personal injury claim. If you’d like to learn more about the role of a personal injury attorney in the aftermath of a car accident, please visit our dedicated page with more information on this topic.