Dealing with Insurance Adjusters

So you’re in an accident in a bad way. Your car is damaged, you got injuries and you also lost a couple of day of work. You’re pretty sure that you did everything by the book, your car will be covered but you’re not so sure about the injuries and the couple of days off work that you had to take. The injuries and the lost wages you’ll have to take up with the “at-fault” party’s insurance. In this article we will look at how to deal with the insurance adjuster from the other party’s insurance company.

It’s a fact that insurance adjusters can be quite intimidating to deal with. They are the executives that represent large insurance companies. Their main prerogative is to keep as much money with the company as possible and try their best at keeping the claims as low as possible. That is why the adjuster always “adjusts” your claim to something much smaller. Sometimes even half of your claim.

To add insult to injury, you do not have the backing of anyone while the adjuster is backed by the whole insurance company’s resources. As soon as the insurance company is alerted to the fact that there might be a claim against them, their claims machinery springs to action. They will look at how much your car is worth, what the damages sustained are. They will also look at the medical costs and reference it back to “industry standards” to see if it fits within the norms. Most of the time they will initiate the claims settlement process as soon as they have a number in mind.

So, why would the adjuster want to get talking with you so quickly. Isn’t it in their interest to put off payment as long as possible? The first thing is because they want to gauge how urgently you need the money. If you push for the settlement to be quick then you are more likely to accept a lower claims figure thus saving the insurance company some money. The quickness of the adjuster’s response is also because they want to catch the customer off balance. You might not have gotten all the paperwork ready or have not fully realized the extent of your injuries. By settling early there is a high chance that the claims amount will also be smaller.

Ok, so what are the things that you need so that you are at an advantageous point compared to the adjuster. The most important thing you need is hard facts and documents to prove everything. The more detailed the documentation, the better your chances are. Be ready for the adjuster to allege that your injuries are faked and be prepared to throw the lawsuit word around. If you have a doctor’s report that confirms your medical injuries, the adjuster doesn’t have a leg to stand on.

Be ready for an onslaught of questions. One of the known methods widely used by insurance adjusters is to use questions to unsettle those claimants. They will try to ask you about previous injuries and somehow try to link your current injury to past injuries. This way they can weasel their way out of paying. They will even try to question your medical doctor’s opinions as even allege that you might have some sort of arrangement with him/her. The best come-back for this is to say that you aren’t a medical person and that if the insurance agency has a problem with the report they should take it up with the doctor. Most of the time insurance agencies will not questions medical reports, it’s just a tactic they use to unsettle claimants.

Once the doctor’s and medical fees has been agreed on, most adjusters will have issues with you “pain and suffering” claims. Again this is where the doctor’s notes and opinions are vital. It has to be stated in your medical report that you are suffering from pain and it has to show that it is causing your suffering. If your medical report doesn’t show any sign of pain and suffering, you normally won’t be able to claim anything in that category. This again highlights the importance of a detailed medical report.

Even after you have presented your solid case to the insurance adjuster, and he/she doesn’t budge from his initial settlement amount. You should ask him/her why they are being unreasonable. You claim is based on all documented fees and is completely transparent. If he/she doesn’t want to offer a more equitable sum then you certainly have a right to ask a lawyer. To bring things up a notch you can say that the adjuster is being unreasonable and that they will hear from your lawyer next. Pack up your documents and leave. It is normally at this stage that the adjuster will back down as dealing with lawyers can be very messy and time consuming for the adjuster.

Dealing with adjusters is normally never a pleasant experience. The best way to deal with them is to be cordial, firm but aggressive. There is no point being too nice to them as their job is to be unpleasant to you and reduce your claim amounts. The best way to get them is to be totally prepared with everything backed up by documents. Stand your ground and use the threat of engaging lawyers to try reason with them.