Negotiating your car accident insurance settlement |Spot Insurance Claims Information

After a car accident, if you have made a claim with the negligent driver’s insurance company for either property damage to your vehicle, bodily injury, or both, at some point, after providing the adjuster with all of the requested documentation, you will need to negotiate a settlement of your claim. Often, the adjuster will be the one to make the first move and offer you a settlement amount. If you have a definite opinion on the value of your claim, however, you don’t have to wait for his or her offer. You can write a demand letter with the figure you believe your claim is worth. (See Settling Your Car Insurance Claim: How to Write a Demand Letter.) The adjuster will respond in due course with a counter-offer. If you come to an agreement on a figure - great! It’s settled. (See The Initial Steps in Settling Your Car Insurance Claim.)

Suppose, however, that the adjuster makes an offer much lower than you counted on. (See When the Adjuster’s Offer is Too Low.) Note that adjusters have a settlement range and will typically begin at the lowest figure. Their job is to settle the claim for the least possible amount of money. You may venture into back-and-forth negotiations for a while, but no matter how long you have been negotiating, when he gets to the top of his range, there will be no further offers. (See Settling Your Car Insurance Claim: How Long Should It Take.) What happens if you reach an impasse? (See Negotiating Your Car Insurance Settlement.)

Here are some options to bring your claim closer to settlement, even if you have reached an impasse:

    * Seek advice from an car accident lawyer to determine if the settlement amount you have in mind is a reasonable amount based on the facts and documentation.

    * If you want to continue negotiating on your own without an attorney, write a letter to the insurance company to support the value you have placed on your claim. You may want to include any additional documentation and/or information not previously provided.

    * Go up the chain of command and speak to the adjuster’s supervisor or manager. Adjusters get their dollar authority to settle from their higher-ups and may not have convinced them the claim is worth more than what is being offered. Perhaps you can convince them.

    * Request alternative dispute resolution (mediation or arbitration).

    * File a Complaint with your state’s Department of Insurance.

    * Hire an attorney to continue the negotiations for you; most people are not born negotiators.

If your car accident attorney reaches an impasse and is convinced your case has greater value than the insurance company is assigning it, that’s when you file a lawsuit against the negligent driver to have the court decide.

Note that if you are having trouble resolving a claim with your own insurance company, for example, an uninsured motorist claim or a collision claim where your vehicle was deemed a total loss, you also have options. You may not only file a complaint with the Department of Insurance, but you may sue your insurance company for Bad Faith. (See When You Can’t Resolve a Dispute With Your Insurance Company.) Be sure to hire an attorney who is well versed in insurance bad faith cases.