Just as you don’t know when you might be involved in an accident, you also have no clue what could arise in the aftermath of the accident. However, one thing’s certain: You’re definitely going to have to deal with an insurance claims adjuster at some point following the accident. The insurer will get in touch with you to try and understand what happened during the accident and confirm your damages or injuries.
Talking to personal injury lawyers at Edward M. Bernstein & Associates or any other law firm will help you prepare for how to communicate with insurance adjusters so that you don’t end up destroying your chances of getting what you rightfully deserve in your accident claim.
What Do Insurance Adjusters Do?
When someone involved in an accident files a personal injury claim with the insurance company of the at-fault party, the insurance claims adjuster, who will typically work for the insurer of the at-fault driver, will assign you an accident claim number and collect some basic personal information, like your contact information, address, date of birth, and name.
The insurance adjuster will also request authorization from the claimant to get access to accident-related medical bills and documents. At this point, the claims adjuster will:
- Investigate the automobile accident and how it occurred, including examining all the relevant police reports and statements.
- Examine the claimant’s income-related documents, medical documentation, and other evidence of losses and damages linked to the accident.
- Assign a dollar value to the losses and damages of the claimant.
- Manage the personal injury claim negotiation process when it comes to settling with the claimant or with their attorney.
The monetary damage valuation and investigation phases of insurance claims are among the main duties of the insurance adjusters, in addition to settling claims for the insurance company. This also includes refusing to pay the claimant anything or just denying the accident claim. They also have a role to play in negotiating a fair settlement.
How Do Insurance Adjusters Settle Claims?
Insurance claims adjusters are typically judged by how little they can spend on negotiation settlements and also by how fast they can settle these claims. Many claim adjusters get between 45 and 95 new claims every month. To stay even, they’ve got to settle all those claims, which is commonly referred to in the industry as “closing” or “clearing” an accident claim file.
While adjusters will know and understand a lot more than the average person about accident claims in general, they’ll not know the particulars of your claims as well as you do. You were there when the accident happened. You know what you suffered firsthand, including the time it took for your injuries to heal.
On the other hand, the claims adjuster only looks at your file for a few minutes a week. What this means is that once they know you understand or have an idea of how much your personal injury claim is truly worth, they normally will not deny or stall your injury claim. So long as you understand the whole process and you’re organized, then you’ll definitely have the negotiating advantage over the adjuster.
The insurance adjuster is allowed to agree with you on what the final settlement payout should be. Once you agree with the adjuster over an amount, you simply get some paperwork from the adjuster to finalize everything.
Final Thoughts
You will definitely need the help of an experienced lawyer to deal with insurance adjusters. An experienced attorney will handle all communication with the insurance adjuster to resolve your claim outside of the court itself.
