Insurance adjusters may be friendly, but if you are filing a personal injury claim, these people are not your friends. The insurer should pay the amount you need to cover medical bills, property damages, and loss of wages due to your accident, but that isn’t how things work in the real world. An insurance adjuster works to ensure their employer, the insurance company, pays as little as possible on every claim that comes across their desk. They are notorious for denials and delays that leave injured parties feeling overwhelmed and defeated.
Don’t Be Fooled
Insurance adjusters care far more about their company’s bottom line than they do about getting you the compensation you deserve. That means they want to you to take their lowest offer. Truthfully, the adjuster will use a multitude of tactics and tricks to attempt to lessen the value of your case and get you to take a lowball offer, such as:
Recorded statement. The adjuster will try to close your claim right away by telling you they need a recorded statement. Don’t agree to it. The claims adjuster may even tell you that you are required to give them a recorded statement. You aren’t. They may also be overly friendly to attempt to put you at ease. Don’t buy into it. They have scripts of questions designed to trip you up and make you contradict yourself.
Quick settlement offer. An insurance adjuster will call a day or two after an accident and offer a small amount of money to settle your claim. They will send it overnight or by courier. In return, you must sign a full release. This may seem efficient, but many times car accident injuries do not show up in the first few days following an accident. Insurance companies are well aware of this fact. Seek emergency treatment right away and remember to follow up with your primary care physician to ensure no injuries were not identified in the wake of the accident.
Surveillance. If your case includes significant injuries and piles of medical bills, your adjuster may hire a private investigator to place you under surveillance. This is an attempt to catch you performing a physical act that can call the extent of your injuries into question. Daily tasks like unloading groceries, taking out the trash, or putting your child in a car seat can be used to reduce the amount of the settlement. Your adjuster obtains this footage and will inform you that your injuries are not as substantial as you have told your doctor. Then they will try to convince you to take a smaller settlement.
Partial liability. The insurance company may tell you that because you were partially at fault, the value of your case is less. You need a qualified car wreck attorney on your side who can shut this tactic down quickly. We will work for you by gathering witness statements and other compelling evidence to build your case against the driver who injured you. It is also important to remember that Colorado is a comparative negligence state, meaning that even if you are partially at fault for the accident, you can still recover damages.
They will tell you not to hire an attorney. This means that hiring the Tenge Law Firm, LLC, is exactly what you should do. Adjusters tell people that they will not pay out more because you hire a lawyer and that all a lawyer will do is take one-third of the settlement. This is seldom the case. Our expertise is built on decades of experience and the trust of our clients. We will use every tool at our disposal to maximize your compensation.
We’re Here to Help – Offices in Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins
Whether we fight for the best possible settlement or take your case to trial, the attorneys at the Tenge Law Firm, LLC, have your back, especially if your insurance adjuster is acting in bad faith. Call our office at (303) 219-7377 and schedule a free consultation with one of our knowledgeable Boulder personal injury lawyers. We understand the complexities of accident cases, and if we represent you, we will give your unique experience the attention it deserves.
