Maria Cavalluzzi Automobile Accidents Law Blog on Lawyers.com

If you have been injured in an accident, your most likely first step will be to make a claim with the insurance company that insures the responsible party.  If you are negotiating on your own with the insurance company to settle your case, it is helpful to understand the main factors that may motivate the insurance adjuster to pay you full and fair compensation for your injuries.

1. The insurance company is a corporate entity that strives to reduce costs and increase profits.  The payment of your claim is a cost and the insurance company has trained its claims adjusters to make every effort to settle your claim for as low a number as possible.  So, be prepared to prove to the insurance adjuster, with proper documentation, witnesses, or other evidence, the full value of your claim.  And, be prepared for the insurance adjuster to make every effort to reduce that value.  The insurance adjuster will only pay your claim if he or she believes that you would ultimately receive an equal or greater judgment if you proceeded to litigation.

2. If the car damage is minor, the adjuster will see your injuries as minor. While many of us understand that even a low impact auto accident can cause significant back, neck or other soft tissue injury and pain, or might re-injure a previously injured back or knee, insurance adjusters do not accept this notion.  The adjuster will measure the pain you are expected (allowed) to experience by the amount of property damage to the cars involved.  You will have to have medical records and billings that prove that the injury was caused by the accident and required significant medical treatment.  Even if the medical records and bills are significant, expect the insurance adjuster to accuse you of “overtreating” for a minor soft tissue injury. 
 
3. If you are injured, you seek medical treatment immediately.  Often times we see individuals that believe the pain they are experiencing will go away with time, so, they ignore the pain and hope for the best.  Unfortunately, it often occurs that untreated injuries become worse and cause greater pain, leading to a visit to a medical provider weeks after the incident, with complaints of pain.  If there is a gap of more than a few days between the time of your accident and the time you sought treatment for your injuries, the insurance company will jump on that as evidence that you were not really injured in the accident, but some other intervening cause is responsible for your pain, or, the accident did not cause any injury and you are faking injury now in order to increase the value of your claim.  Furthermore, if you stop attending to your injuries, because you lack the time or the resources to do it, the insurance company will argue that you must not have been feeling pain because you did not continue treatment.  Also, they can argue that you caused additional damages to yourself by not following up with medical providers and therefore it is your own lack of care that resulted in your continued pain.  It is important that you seek medical attention immediately after any accident and carefully explain to the medical provider all of the pain you are experiencing.  Leave nothing out.  Finally, if you do not seek medical treatment, no insurance adjuster will give any value to your pain and suffering.

4. If you have lost earnings, you must have documented proof of previous earnings and evidence that your inability to work due to the injury resulted in a loss of earnings.  Be prepared to provide check stubs and possibly time sheets or other work attendance records to the insurance adjuster to prove your lost earnings claim.  If you work for a company that pays you sick leave, you are still entitled to the value of the sick days you had to use when you could not work.  If you are self employed, be prepared to provide profit and loss sheets or tax returns to prove a change in your income from before the accident to after the accident.

5. Finally, the most motivating threat to the insurance adjuster is the threat that you will file a lawsuit and obtain a judgment of damages that is greater than the settlement amount offered by the adjuster.  A claimant who is negotiating without an Los Angeles auto accident attorney will pose no such threat to the insurance adjuster.  If your case is relatively small, and you keep the above pointers in mind, you may be able to obtain a reasonable settlement.  However, insurance companies to not go around handing out $100,000 settlements to people who ask nicely.  The fact remains that the best way to ensure maximum recovery is to retain an experienced Los Angeles automobile accident law firm who represents an actual threat to the insurance company.