Car Accident Settlement - Get the Most Out of Process

Getting a fair car accident settlement can be difficult. Insurance companies are savvy, and their adjusters are trained to negotiate and settle with you for the lowest amount possible.

Insurance companies leverage the vehicle damages (and the total loss process) against you. For example, they will try to settle with you as soon as they talk to you. They will tell you that they will fix the car and "take care" of you if you settle for any/and all claims. They will offer you anywhere from $50 to $500. They will try to "cut of" the rental car as soon as they can so you are put in a weaker position and you settle faster. These techniques are unfair, but yet they are legal.

The problem with accepting an early settlement is that you can potentially lose all your negotiation leverage. A car accident settlement due to a bodily injury is substantially more powerful than a total loss settlement. A bodily injury claim will take into account subjective values (i.e. pain and suffering, loss of consortium, loss of business income, etc.) The total loss settlement will only include "objective values." The insurance company will find the value of other similar vehicles in your local market and determine what is the most the can offer you.

If you settle your injury claim, then you have no leverage. The insurance company will fix the car however they want to (i.e. they will fix your car with used parts). Having the power to argue that you were injured could make the adjuster be much more likely to settle with you for what you are owed. If you do not have an injury claim, trying to get your vehicle fixed or totaled can be a very difficult task.

Insurance adjusters know that you can leverage an injury to get a better treatment in the vehicle claim. They usually "split" adjusters so you deal with two different people. The liability adjuster (the person dealing with vehicle damages) will tell you that the injury does not have anything with your vehicle repairs and that you have to talk with Joe Smith for that, to please call 1-800... When you talk to Joe Smith, Joe Smith will tell you that the vehicle damages do not relate to the injury. They will play "musical chairs" with you so they do not have to give you a straight answer.

In theory, they are correct. The injury and the vehicle damages are two different things. However, you are indeed dealing with one car accident. Your inconvenience for having your vehicle hit, having to deal with adjusters, dealing with medical bills, doctors, etc. must be compensated somehow. Injury adjusters will try to tell you that they are only settling pain and suffering, and that a car accident settlement does not include "inconvenience". This is incorrect. You are the ultimate person that settles your claim. You are owed for all damages that the liable party caused.

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