1-800-964-0361
Suppose that you feel your car insurance company ought to pay you for the injuries that you sustained in an on-road collision. How should you go about presenting a formal claim?
First steps on path to negotiations
Collect all relevant evidence and notify those that would be named as responsible for damages, and share your plans to make a claim.
Compose demand letter
—Provide details on each injury, and on treatment for same injury
—Give value of lost income
—Share information on any other losses, such as loss of an educational or career opportunity
—Conclude with a figure that represents your demand
Communications during negotiations
These can be rather informal and could take place over the phone, or in any, equally simple fashion. The adjuster would want to limit the size of the payout, and could favor a low demand. If the same adjuster were to refuse to come forward with a counteroffer that was higher than that low demand, you might need to contact an attorney.
How could communications from an attorney’s office help to move the negotiations forward?
Personal injury lawyers in Stouffville can hire people to place a call to the adjuster’s office, and then wait for the time when the adjuster is free to speak on the phone.
A lawyer would be able to identify any unreasonable requests from the adjuster, and thus, zero in on those unreasonable requests.
A lawyer would not waste time discussing an issue on which the adjuster has taken a firm and reasonable stand. Instead, a bulk of the lawyer’s time could be devoted to nudging the adjuster enough to trigger issuance of a response to the client’s latest demand.
The client’s lawyer would know that issuance of a response would force the client to make a slightly lower demand. Personal injury lawyers never ask any client to reduce the size of a demand until the other side has responded to the most recently demanded sum of money.
An attorney’s calls to the adjuster could include mention of the fact that the client was still able to file a complaint and launch a lawsuit. Insurance companies prefer out-of-court negotiations, as opposed to a trial, where the plaintiff/victim and the defendant face each other in a courtroom setting.
Lawyers like to have time for completing such communications. A lawyer’s desire for that time period would not be satisfied, if some injured victim, were to delay any contact with a legal firm, or with the office of someone that had recently completed law school.
The likelihood that an attorney’s response could be “yes” would diminish, as the deadline for filing a complaint got closer and closer. All potential clients should keep that fact in mind.