Dealing with the Typical Insurance Adjuster By: Dan Baldyga
When it comes to settling your motor vehicle accident most adjusters function like Henry Hard-Nose of Rock Solid Insurance Corporation. They’re thick skinned and difficult to deal with !
Below is a typical verbal exchange a month or so after you and Hard-Nose had met in an attempt to settle. At that time he had taken the position that the injury to your shoulder was not as serious as your attending physicians Medical Report stated it was.
Question: "Do they fight what your own attending physician wrote in their report"?
Answer: "Yes, absolutely! Take it from Dan, who was on that firing line for 35 years".
The following is a typical verbal settlement exchange after your last meeting had ended “Up In The Air” - - slowing floating around somewhere in outer space.
You first: Here’s the counter argument you should make: “Look, with all due respect, you are not a doctor. You’re no medical expert who has the know-how to second-guess my doctor. When we last met you said my shoulder was ‘only a bruise’ as opposed to a dislocation. I have again talked to my doctor and he remains firm about the accuracy of his original diagnosis. He states that I absolutely suffered a dislocation of my shoulder. But, even apart from his analysis, I’m the best judge of my own injury - - that is, how painful its been to me and the suffering I’ve had to endure“.
At that point Hard-Nose will attempt his usual tactic of interrupting your logic but stiffen up, wave him off and say, “Look, let me finish. You owe me that because it was your insured who flew through a Stop Sign and bashed into me. You and I both know he’s one hundred percent at fault and if this talk about settling for my Pain and Suffering gets any more one-sided I’m gonna be left with no choice but to hire myself a lawyer.”
Hard-Nose will surely stiffen up! However, you proceed, “How is it sir, that its been over three months since this accident and there are times when I still suffer excruciating pains? How is it that I can’t lift things like I used to? Even as we speak I’m in pain! The truth is it hurts, it bothers me and it has disabled me. I’ve been enduring it but it’s been awful and it has disrupted my life terribly. My shoulder is not a ‘mere bruise’ to me sir. Neither does my doctor say it is. He states that my shoulder was definitely dislocated and it will take many more months to clear up”!
All of the above is an example of your central approach to the predictably belligerent, difficult-to-deal-with adjuster. You must be firm and aggressive - - but not hostile .
Yours should be a thoughtful presentation that relies on the persuasiveness of a sound demand adequately documented and properly communicated.
THE THREE MOST CRUCIAL QUESTIONS YOU MUST ASK HARD-NOSE ARE
(#1) How much will you pay me for my automobile and all other provable property damage?
(#2) How much will you pay me as a fair settlement for my provable Special Damages?
(#3) And how much will you pay me for my disability plus my “Pain and Suffering”?
In most instances Hard-Nose will head for the hills. Why? Because he's unwilling to give you a straight answer.
He’ll sidestep and do a slow waltz by asking you a loaded question like, “Okay, what do you think your claim is worth?”
Such a question is predictable because Hard-Nose prefers that you’re the one who makes the settlement demand first. Why? Because you may ask for less than what he was preparing to offer!
And also because - - if you make an excessive demand, he will not have committed himself to an offer which will have left no room for further negotiations.
In other words, Hard-Nose is in his best position to exercise “Command and Control” over the manipulation and setting of the dollar amount to be paid when it’s you that makes the settlement demand first, rather than he the settlement offer. You should not provide him with this advantage!
To win this crucial “Game” he must suspect you’re close to obtaining a lawyer to handle your case so you should insist on the offer (one that’s realistic and made in good faith) to come from him before you make your demand. "Why is that? ", you ask. The answer to that one is , "Because at that point it’s all about who gets to control the value of your claim - - you or Hard-Nose"?
It’s not sufficient for Hard-Nose to merely come up with a phony offer.
You must insist upon, and hold out until, he makes the first offer and that it’s a realistic one.
Then, and only then, is when you should respond with your own first counter-demand. Up to that point never let him know what you’d be willing to settle for . If you do you’ll lose control and that could cost you some big bucks!
Dan Baldyga’s third and latest book AUTO ACCIDENT PERSONAL INJURY INSURANCE CLAIM (How To Evaluate And Settle Your Loss). It can be found on the internet at http://www.autoaccidentclaims.com or http://www.caraccidentclaims.com. This book reveals how to handle your claim so you won't be taken advantage of. It also goes into detail regarding BASE (The Baldyga Auto Accident Settlement Evaluation Formula). THE BASE FORMULA explains how to determine the value of the Pain and suffering you endured - - because of your personal injury!
Copyright (c) 2005 by Daniel G. Baldyga. All Rights Reserved
DISCLAIMER: The only purpose of this "How To" Insurance Claim article "DEALING WITH THE TYPICAL INSURANCE ADJUSTER" is to help people understand the motor vehicle accident claim process. Neither Dan Baldyga nor MONCTON.Net make any guarantee of any kind whatsoever NOR purports to engage in rendering any professional legal service, substitute for a lawyer, an insurance adjuster, or claims consultant, or the like. Where such professional help is desired IT IS THE INDIVIDUALS RESPONSIBILITY to obtain such services.
Dan Baldyga - Author
dbpaw@comcast.net
FAX: 1 (413) 731 8358
AUTO ACCIDENT PERSONAL INJURY INSURANCE CLAIM
(How To Evaluate And Settle Your Loss)
http://www.autoaccidentclaims.com
Or: http://www.caraccidentclaims.com