Insurance companies do not invite the start of negotiations. In fact, the insurer does not assign an adjuster to a personal injury claim from an accident victim until that same claimant/victim has sent a demand letter.
What is a demand letter?
That is the first piece of correspondence that an insurance company gets from a victim that has filed a personal injury claim. That letter must give the date and location of the accident that caused the claimed injuries of losses. The letter should also include a demand for a given amount of money, as compensation.
The negotiating begins when the claimant gets a call from the adjuster.
The 2 parties discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each side’s case. The adjuster makes an offer, one that is usually a good bit lower than the figure mentioned in the demand letter.
The insurance company might send the claimant a reservation of rights letter.
Those letters get sent by insurance companies that want claimants to understand the meaning or what has been said during the negotiating process. Nothing said by the adjuster indicates that the insurer has agreed to pay a given amount of money. The insurer has only agreed to appoint an adjuster, who will take part in the negotiations.
The exchange of offers and counter-offers
That exchange takes place repeatedly, as both sides continue to negotiate. Usually, the plaintiff will hire the services of a personal injury lawyer in Milton to represent their rights. If the adjuster stays with a ridiculously low offer, the claimant can ask for a justification of that low offer. If the adjuster fails to issue a response, the claimant should not hesitate to request a response.
Claimants that are eager to settle can move the process along by emphasizing emotional issues. Such issues usually relate to a victim’s pain and suffering. The insurance company can sense from the level of the claimant’s emotions the extent to which he or she is eager to settle the case that is being negotiated.
Obviously, a claimant that wanted to delay settlement should not try that approach. Claimants that favor such a delay should seek a lawyer’s assistance. Lawyers know how to use logic, rather than emotions, when speaking with an adjuster.
Reaching a settlement
If the 2 sides have agreed to settle, the adjuster should be asked to write down the exact terms of the settlement. Those terms should be spelled out in a letter, one that gets sent to the claimant. Yet the letter’s content would not be complete without the inclusion of some other specific information.
If the 2 sides are settling, then the insurance company should be ready to hand over to the claimant a fair compensation. The adjuster needs to indicate when the claimant can expect to receive that compensation.
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