How To Respond To An Offer For Your Personal Injury Claim

Lawyers understand how desperate an accident victim might be for some form of monetary compensation. Of course, the person that has insured the accused driver recognizes the extent to which a victim’s desire for compensation could be used to an advantage. The longer the delay in the delivery of that compensation, the greater the amount of time until the victim’s phone might ring.

Then the victim might learn the identity of the person at the other end of the line; that same person would probably be a representative from the accused driver’s insurance company. That same representative would claim to have good news. This would be the news: The victim’s settlement had come through. Depending on the victim’s decision, that settlement amount could be claimed by the victim.

Why victims need to think twice before accepting that first offer to a personal injury claim.

At that point a doctor might lack the information necessary, in order to determine the full extent of the victim’s recovery. Maybe a physician would say that the desired recovery had not yet been achieved. Victims put themselves at a real disadvantage by agreeing to an early settlement before becoming fully recovered.

If you have not yet fully recovered, then you may lack the ability to carry out all the responsibilities that were linked to a former job. In that case, your ability to earn a livelihood could be in jeopardy. Still, by agreeing to the first offer from the other driver’s insurer, you accept that offer which abandons the ability to get further disability payments.

You cannot always foresee the possible expenses in the future. It could be that the doctor might suddenly suggest a different treatment routine, or purchase of a new piece of medical equipment. If the first offer has been accepted, the insurance company will not cover the cost of that new treatment or additional piece of equipment.

As a victim, you should not agree to such early offers before consulting with an expert. Their decision should reflect the guidance provided by a financial expert or a vocational expert. Depending on the nature of the victim’s injury, it might also be wise to speak with a specialist.

The scenario given above makes no mention of consultation with an injury lawyer in Kitchener. Certainly, a smart victim would speak with an injury lawyer, before deciding to accept an insurance company’s offer. A good lawyer can help a client/victim to obtain a higher offer. By the same token, a lawyer can tell a client when it would not pay to bring a lawsuit against the insurer of the “at fault” driver. More importantly, a good lawyer will look closely at all the available evidence and then explain why it would be unwise to entertain thoughts of such a lawsuit. Of course, the same lawyer would never stop going after the largest out-of-court settlement possible.