1-800-964-0361
Sometimes an insurance adjuster does make use of a settlement formula. Such formulas help adjusters to utilize of all the information that the insurance company has collected on a given accident. For any given case, an adjuster will gather specific documents.
Documents from which adjuster’s information comes
• Medical records of injured victim
• Proof of income lost by injured victim
• Cost of repairs to make; cost of property damaged beyond repair
The total cost for all the necessary medical care gets determined by adding up the totals on the various medical bills. Adjusters refer to that sum as the medical special charges. The figure representing the medical special charges gets multiplied by a number between 1.5 and 5. The greater the severity of the victim’s injury, the greater the chance will be that the adjuster will use a 4.5 or a 5. In rare cases, the adjuster uses a number greater than 5 but less than 10.
The product obtained by multiplying the medical special charges and a carefully chosen number gets used to represent the general damages. Adjusters recognize the general damages as equivalent to the victim’s non-economic losses. Adjusters also have another name for such losses: pain and suffering.
Final steps in calculations dictated by the formula
The medical special charges get added to the general damages. That sum then gets added to the amount of lost income and the value of the lost property. The final figure, the one obtained by all those summations is the figure that the adjuster will use, when estimating the value of your personal injury case.
How does the adjuster use that figure?
Adjusters negotiate with the Personal Injury Lawyer in Barrie that are representing specific victims. The negotiations begin when the adjuster’s initial offer gets presented to the appropriate victim. The adjuster’s formula has provided that expert on claims with a way to come up with a reasonable figure for that initial offer.
Recall that adjusters get to choose what number will be used to represent the severity of the injury. If an adjuster thinks that an injury might be considered minor, because only soft tissue has been harmed, the value for the general damages would be low. As a result the final figure, the one used to determine the adjuster’s initial offer would also be low.
A victim that must fight such a low initial offer needs a good lawyer. That injury lawyer can gather the evidence required, in order to challenge the adjuster’s suggested offer. In that way, the same attorney can work to ensure the injured client of fair compensation for all of the victim’s injuries and other losses. The client with a fair compensation has secured a good outcome.