587-819-1279

FREE CASE EVALUATION | 1-800-260-0784

After an insurer has assigned a specific claim to an insurance adjuster, that same adjuster wants to know what happened, and how much the assigned claim is worth. Yet those are not the only questions that fill the adjuster’s mind.

The adjuster’s goals

All adjusters feel obligated to work towards keeping a given claimant from launching a lawsuit against the insurance company’s policyholder. At the same time, each of them searches for a way to keep that same claimant’s settlement payment as low as possible.

Factors studied by adjusters, while pursuing their twin goals

What is the total figure for the claimant’s expenses? How much did he or she spend on doctors’ appointments, a hospital stays, imaging studies, x-rays, medications and medical equipment? Personal injury lawyers urge their clients to seek reimbursement for parking expenses, as well.

How much income did the claimant/victim lose, while recovering from his or her injury?

What was the level of the victim’s pain and suffering? Did the accident cause the victim to sustain a hard or a soft injury? Insurance companies view hard injuries as the type that causes a greater amount of pain and suffering.

What were the negative effects of the injury? Did it cause a disfigurement or a disability? Did it reduce the victim’s ability to pursue the career path that he or she had been on, before the day of the accident?

What are the limits on the policyholder’s policy? How much money would be available to the claimant?

What is the strength of this case? Claimants with a strong case can expect a larger settlement. Those with a weak case should stand prepared to be offered only a small settlement.

How an adjuster views claimant’s action?

Claimants that hire a Personal Injury Lawyer in St John’s show that they are serious about getting a fair deal at the time of the settlement. The presentation of photographs, medical records and itemized statement helps to support a claim that the other party was at fault. The presentation of medical records also shows that the victim has reason to suspect the existence of an injury, one that has not yet been definitively diagnosed.

Claimants’ willingness to prepare and send a demand letter increases their chances for obtaining a reasonable offer from the insurance company at the start of negotiations. Demand letters are supposed to propose a figure for the amount of money that the defendant owes to the plaintiff/claimant. The claimant’s offer should represent a response to that demand. Hence, demand letters make it harder for adjusters to come forward with what qualifies as a low-ball offer. Instead, their offer needs to be more reasonable.