Insurers are great at their job and even the smartest people can easily fall into the traps they lay. Just don’t let them succeed with these tricks and pay you less than what you really deserve!
Being injured in an accident makes you vulnerable – physically, emotionally, and financially. Although you can legally pursue compensation from the guilty party, getting it wouldn’t be as easy as it sounds. This is because an insurance company is involved and they would do everything possible to avoid giving you what you deserve or at least, close the claim at a minimum value. It becomes important to be extra careful during your negotiations with insurers and understand the tricks they can use to convince you for the lowest offer so that you can see through them. Here are the ones they may use.
The adjuster will act like your friend
Even if the insurance adjuster appears to have your best interests in mind, you cannot trust them for it. After all, they represent the insurance company and are just doing their job. These professionals are trained to act a certain way with the claimant and show all the sympathy, kindness, and courtesy they can. Don’t be fooled because the information you share with them without suspecting any wrong intentions may eventually reduce your settlement offer.
They would want to convince you about the urgency of settlement
You will probably want to get the claim fast to have enough money for treatment and financial support. That’s a trick that the insurance company will use to convince you about the urgency of settlement quickly after filing a claim with them. Urgency often makes the victim settle for the first offer itself, which may not be enough to cover your damages. Although you cannot wait forever, it is still important to negotiate until you are convinced.
They would want you to take a lowball offer
Typically, insurance companies have strong legal teams to settle claims that arise against them. They would want to close it with lowball offers for the gullible victims. It makes sense to avoid going ahead for negotiations on your own, rather hire an expert car accident lawyer to handle them on your behalf. They can help you calculate a fair value of compensation and ensure that you settle it only if it covers all your damages and injuries. You may even have to file a lawsuit to get the fair value and a lawyer can help you with it as well.
They may use what you say against you
Another trick that you should be watchful about is that the insurance company may use whatever you say against you. It is easy to fall prey to their tactic because of the friendly behavior they often use to get signs of admissions to get statements that act inconsistent or contradictory with your claim of liability from the victims. Further, they would want to so that they can deny it completely or reduce the offer. Even short conversations can be tricky, so it is best to have your attorney deal with them.
Insurers are great at their job and even the smartest people can easily fall into the traps they lay. Just don’t let them succeed with these tricks and pay you less than what you really deserve!
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