Keeping Your Car Insurance Settlements High

The last thing that you want to do after a terrible accident is to have to deal with insurance adjusters who want to push your claims as low as possible. You might even be injured and be in the hospital and you still have to deal with these people. It’s almost like you are being punished for doing something wrong. How can so many unpleasant things happen to you so often. In this article we will look at ways you can stand up to the adjuster so that you aren’t taken for another ride with an overly low settlement amount.

The key to getting what you want and also deserve is preparedness. The claims adjuster is a professional executive and works on paperwork and policy of the company. The first thing you should get a hold of is the claims policy of the company. Some larger companies will have it available on their website. If that isn’t available then you can ask your insurance agent. Most of the time they are more than happy to help you.

After you get the policy and read it over you must proceed to document everything in your accident. This means any receipts, pictures, statements, reports all have to be kept by you and also a copy has been sent to the claims adjuster. In order to have a good experience you must be absolutely sure that you have all the documents that are necessary. This would even include your company’s policy on lost wages due to accidents. Anything that you can think of that will aid in you getting a higher claim.

Insurance companies and their claims agents work on facts. If you can provide facts about your accident then they really have nothing to counter it. Numbers are number and facts are facts. There is no running away from the cost of something when it is stated in black and white. If the adjuster is dumb enough to offer you a claim that is lower than the sum of all your claims you can tell them that you’d be happy to bring them to court over it. It is a fact that court judges normally always side with the victim and not the insurance agency.

Even if you are an introvert and don’t like to deal with people, dealing with your claims adjuster still has to be done. The first thing that you should be is afraid of the him/her. They can sense this and will attempt to step all over you with big words and try to justify why they offer you such a low pay-out. You must stand your ground and be firm with what you want. Show the adjuster that you know your rights and that you are willing to go all the way to see that you get the most suitable claim.

It is important to note that during the negotiation phase, do not back down and do not give in to the talk of the insurance agent. Adjusters are told to try discredit insurance claims. They may try to say that your injuries are made up or that your car isn’t worth as much as it is. They may even allege that your claims are unsubstantiated even if you have the proper documents to prove your claims. I find that the best way to get them to talk to you properly is to get angry at them and threaten court action. This way, most adjusters will back down from their baseless accusations and take you more seriously. Even if you are of a friendly disposition, sometimes you just got to act angry to get things moving in the right direction.

When it comes to injuries sustained by you and your passengers. Never under report anything. Even if you are feeling a bit feverish after the accident, even a slight bruising in your underarm, a slight headache, absolutely everything has to be reported. The reason for this is that there might be long term implications to your current medical problem that you think might be “small”. I’ve hear of someone who had a minor headache for  a few days but eventually lost her eyesight because of a blood clot in her brain. She didn’t say anything about the headache and it was ruled that her loss of sight was nothing to do with the accident because she did not state her injuries clearly. Be extremely detailed with this, it is vitally important.

Negotiations with your car insurance company are normally not pleasant experiences but it is something that needs to be done. We don’t have a choice. The best thing to do is to be prepared and not back down from your claim. Stand your ground and the insurance company will be more likely to offer you’re a settlement that is much more appropriate.