By and large, most personal injury victims are not terribly familiar with the inner workings of the claims process. As a result, they are shocked to find out about the varied and insidious characters who have the ability to impact their claim. The best example of this is, perhaps, insurance adjusters, since they ultimately act as gatekeepers to your potential settlement.
Insurance adjusters act on behalf of insurance carriers by examining claims and investigating accidents in order to determine how much coverage, if any, they are willing to extend. For every claim they are assigned, they inspect property damage, medical records, and conduct inquiries with eyewitnesses and claimants. They may operate under different titles, like analysts, representatives, claims specialists, etc. Regardless of what they call themselves, their ultimate task, settling claims for the least amount of money possible, remains unchanged.
Despite their congenial attitude, the insurance adjuster is not your friend. What they are doing is looking for ways to reduce your compensation. They want you to feel at ease so they can catch you off guard. Insurance adjusters know how vulnerable you are after a car accident and will jump at any opportunity to take your words out of context and use them against you. To ensure your interests are protected, contact Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp today to schedule a free consultation with one of our experienced Virginia Beach car accident lawyers.
They Delay Your Settlement
Insurance adjusters often drag settlements out through the use of multifarious schemes designed to stall the claims process. They may keep requesting additional documentation, even though it isn’t necessary, or insist they have not had enough time to inspect the documentation you have already provided.
In some cases, your claim will get passed from adjuster to adjuster, causing confusion and even more delays. Insurance adjusters may even deliberately put off scheduling inspections or responding to communications.
They hope that by drawing out the claims process, they can frustrate you into accepting a lowball settlement just to put the matter behind you.
They Underestimate Your Damages
Adjusters often try to minimize damages to lower the amount their employer pays out on claims. They commonly undervalue bodily injuries and property damage by attributing them to pre-existing conditions or downplaying their severity.
Adjusters may use obsolete pricing guides or broad estimates that do not show what your medical treatments or vehicle repairs truly cost. They may also choose to ignore future costs or hidden damages, like future earnings and continuing medical care.
They Offer Lowball Settlements
Insurance adjusters are aware that serious car accidents often leave victims under an enormous amount of financial strain, and they need money to begin putting their lives back together. By making a low opening offer, they are hoping to resolve your claim cheaply and quickly. They are counting on you to accept their offer due to a limited understanding of your rights or financial pressure.
Always review any settlement offer very carefully, and never agree to settle for less than your case is worth. The best way to keep an insurance adjuster from taking advantage of the situation is to partner with an experienced Virginia Beach personal injury lawyer who has experience negotiating with these kinds of characters. Your lawyer will negotiate with the adjuster for a fair settlement or, if necessary, take your case to court.
They Will Use Your Words Against You
Claims adjusters are taught to pay close attention to the wording you use when filing a claim. They understand that your own words can be leveraged against you to reduce your claim’s value. For instance, if you told the adjuster that your injury is “not that bad,” or that you are “feeling better,” they will make every effort to use those exact phrases to claim your injuries aren’t serious enough to merit financial compensation.
They may also ask you what is known as a leading question, hoping to get you to make a statement that contradicts your claim. When speaking with an adjuster, the wisest course of action is to keep your answers brief yet honest.
Avoid speculation and use clear, precise language to prevent misunderstandings. To protect your interests, ask your attorney to look over any statements before you give them to the adjuster.
They Will Question the Medical Necessity of Treatments
Another tactic that adjusters like to use is questioning the necessity of any medical treatments you received for your accident-related injuries. They often argue that particular medicines, therapies, or procedures were not medically required for the treatment of your condition.
The adjuster might argue that your treatment was excessive or that you could have made do with a cheaper option. These accusations effectively pave the way for them to decrease your payout. Fortunately, this strategy is easily countered with documentation from your treating physician explaining why the medical treatments you received were vital to your recovery.
Your doctor can supply detailed records proving that the care you received was appropriate for your injuries. Openly communicating with your healthcare team will strengthen your claim against the insurance adjuster’s efforts to minimize or deny you coverage.
Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp
After a car accident in Virginia Beach, anyone who plans on pursuing financial compensation will have to work with an insurance adjuster eventually, whether through their own insurer or the at-fault party’s. When you partner with an experienced lawyer from Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp, you can rest assured that you are protected from the insurance adjuster’s underhanded tactics, which will strengthen your personal injury claim and increase your odds of obtaining maximum compensation. Using these strategies, we helped an injured client win a $150,000 jury verdict after the insurance company refused to offer a settlement for an aggravated pre-existing condition.
To schedule a free legal consultation with one of our Virginia Beach car accident attorneys, call (833) 997-1774 or fill out our quick online contact form. We represent clients throughout Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Hampton, and Norfolk.
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Since 1984, Jim St. Clair has fought and helped Virginia Beach personal injury clients overcome some of the most traumatic moments of their lives. Whether you have been in an accident caused by the fault of another or a victim of medical malpractice, the results can leave you profoundly damaged physically, mentally, and economically. You may be entitled to substantial compensation. Jim is a seasoned and experienced personal injury trial attorney with 40 years of experience. He graduated with honors from Creighton University School of Law in 1984 and then served in a prestigious federal law clerk position for the late U.S. District Judge J. Calvitt Clarke, Jr., in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Over several decades, Jim has enjoyed remarkable success advocating for injured clients and has won notable multimillion-dollar settlements and verdicts. He has tried cases in Virginia General District and Circuit Court and in the Eastern and Western District Virginia Federal Court. In one case that went up on appeal to the Supreme Court of Virginia, he convinced the court to change the law regarding the statute of limitations in Virginia medical malpractice “misdiagnosis” cases. Jim’s areas of Virginia personal injury law practice include medical malpractice, car and truck injury cases, dog bite injuries, and cases involving negligence at business premises. Within these areas of law, he has also successfully prosecuted numerous wrongful death actions. Outside the courtroom, Jim has served on the board of directors of the Better Business Bureau, taught as an adjunct professor for business law at Old Dominion University, instructed future paralegals at the American Institute of Paralegal Studies, and lectured Virginia attorneys on the subject of “insurance litigation in Virginia.” He is a member of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association and the Virginia Beach Bar Association. If you have been impacted by the negligence of another, contact Jim St. Clair today for a free, confidential personal injury law consultation.
