How to Reject a Low Personal Injury Settlement Offer and How to Recognize
How to Reject a Low Personal Injury Settlement Offer (and How to Recognize One in the First Place)
You’ve been injured, and are on the road to recovering from the physical damage. While you’re dutifully following your doctor’s orders, you’re awaiting word from the insurance adjuster to see what the insurance company is willing to pay for your injuries.
If you’re working with a personal injury attorney, you’re already ahead of the game. Your lawyer is accustomed to dealing with insurance companies and negotiating with their representatives. That said, whether you have retained an attorney or not, you’ll want to know how to recognize and counter a low personal injury settlement offer.
Let’s begin with ways to recognize when the settlement offer you receive is too low.
Recognizing a Low Settlement Offer
This step is the easiest part of the negotiation process. Whether or not you are working with an attorney, the insurance adjuster will open by proposing an amount the company is willing to pay for your injuries. How can you tell if that offer is too low?
It is. Always.How do we know? Because it’s the first offer.
You see, the insurance company has nothing to lose and everything to gain by opening with a lowball offer for your claim. For all the adjuster knows, you may accept it. If you don’t, there’s no penalty or other poor result, they simply have to continue negotiating.
That said, the first offer will probably be higher if you have an attorney than it might be if you don’t—but it will still be less than the insurance company would be willing to pay. If the adjuster is dealing with an accomplished, experienced lawyer, the offer might be higher than average. Additionally, if the adjuster is dealing with a lawyer who is known to never to go trial, the offer might be lower than average.
The first offer is always going to be some percentage of what the insurer thinks is the real value of the case will be, that is, less than they’d be willing to pay. In most cases, the insurance company has its own calculations and algorithms they’ll use in order to determine the value of your claim. The adjuster knows what this figure is before he or she makes that first offer.
Rejecting a Low Offer
Knowing that the first offer you receive will be low isn’t enough. You have to be able to counter this offer. Even if you’re the sort of negotiator used car salesmen have nightmares about, the insurance adjuster has knowledge you do not possess.
The adjuster knows what your case is likely worth. Do you?
Entering into negotiations with someone who possesses greater knowledge than yourself is not in your best interest. You may still be able to negotiate a higher settlement on your own. However, in the vast majority of cases, letting your personal injury lawyer negotiate on your behalf is going to result in a higher settlement.
If you do decide to go it alone, be sure you have every expense documented when you reject the initial offer. Be prepared to explain why the offer is too low, to show your math, and to counter with an offer that is higher than the settlement you expect to get.
Be certain to include amounts you think are fair for:
- Lost wages
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Future medical and rehabilitative expenses
- Lost future earning potential
If this sounds complex and difficult to quantify, that’s because it is. Insurance companies have the upper hand in this type of negotiation, because this is what they do every day. You are likely to have a far better outcome for your case if you have an attorney on your side—and if you’re prepared to go to court in the event you can’t reach a fair settlement.