An early settlement offer is likely to be inadequate to your needs.
If you have been hurt in a car accident, you may be understandably eager to cash your insurance check and put the whole incident behind you. Insurance companies know this and they have two main ways of using it against you.
Perhaps the most common tactic is to delay your settlement offer. Knowing that you may be racking up the medical bills and other expenses while you are out of work due to your injuries, the insurance company hopes you will feel pressured into accepting their first settlement offer when it finally comes—even if it is a lowball offer.
However, recently it seems that more and more insurance companies have been taking the opposite approach with car accident injury victims, making a settlement offer extremely quickly after the accident. This approach can also result in victims accepting less compensation than they really deserve.
Here is how it usually works:
- The insurance claims adjuster reaches out quickly to the injury victim—sometimes on the same day of the accident—to try to convince them that the company cares.
- The claims adjuster offers to make a small cash payment and to cover all accident-caused medical bills up to a certain time period or dollar amount—if the victim agrees right now.
- The claims adjuster emails or mails a release form for quick signature to lock the victim into the agreement.
But here is what you need to remember:
- The insurance company may care about you, but they also have to care about their own bottom line. Given the choice they will follow their own interests whenever possible and reduce or deny your compensation.
- You may be entitled to much more compensation than the claims adjuster is offering. You should have all your medical costs covered, not just bills incurred within an arbitrary time limit or dollar amount. You should also receive compensation for lost income and pain and suffering. That small cash payment is not even close to being an appropriate substitute for pain and suffering damages.
- There is always time to consult a car accident injury attorney before accepting a settlement offer. If you are legally entitled to compensation, you cannot miss out simply by not returning a settlement offer on the insurance company’s deadline. The only thing you have to worry about is the statute of limitations for filing an auto accident injury lawsuit, which is 2 years from the date of the accident.
Attorney Vargas is Here to Help
If you have been injured in a car accident, you can rely on Fernando D. Vargas for expert representation. As an experienced car accident injury attorney, Fernando D. Vargas has handled a diverse range of cases involving all kinds of liability issues and all kinds of injuries and secured substantial awards for his clients. He knows how to use the evidence in your case to build a compelling argument for you to receive full and fair compensation for your injuries.
For a free initial consultation, please call 909-982-0707 now.
