Personal Injury Attorneys Discuss Defense Attempts to Reduce Settlement Value
How Insurance Adjusters View Injury Claims
At the outset of filing a claim for benefits for injuries, you will work with an insurance adjuster. Personal accident attorneys can help you understand what information adjusters need from you and why. Adjusters work for an insurance company with a vested interest in reducing any benefit pay-outs. Therefore, the adjuster will probe for weaknesses in your case to try and reduce the settlement value. Personal accident lawyers know that adjusters will look for things like: problems determining who was at fault; injuries claimed that are not supported by medical documentation; information tending to show you were at fault for your own injuries, etc. The more your personal injury lawyers know about your case--the good, the bad, and the ugly--the better able they will be to advocate for you and give you a realistic sense of the settlement value of your case.
What Happens When a Lawsuit Is Filed?
If your case does not settle Personal injury attorneys can discuss whether filing suit is in your best interests. If so, expect the lawyer hired by the insurance company to vigorously defend against it. The defense attorney will use a variety of litigation tools to gather detailed information about you and your claim. This process is called "discovery." Your personal accident attorneys will also use discovery to find out as much as possible about the defendant. Discovery includes things like depositions, requests for medical records, written interrogatories, and perhaps even submission to an independent medical examination. If any weaknesses exist in your case, you can count on the defense attorney to find it. Make sure you are completely truthful with your personal accident lawyers.
Personal injury attorneys cannot promise how much your case is worth or even if it will settle. However, your attorneys will advocate for you with the insurance adjuster and defense attorney if a lawsuit is filed.
Put experienced personal injury attorneys to work on your case as soon as possible. Contact your accident/injury lawyers as soon as possible in order for them to preserve evidence and identify witnesses that may be critical to your Both insurance adjusters and defense lawyers are in an adversarial position to your claim for injury benefits. As such, they will seek ways to poke holes in your claim--find weaknesses that reduce the potential settlement value. Personal injury lawyers can analyze your case and help find potential weaknesses before the adjusters and lawyers do.