Dealing with Insurance Adjusters in Illinois
If you are injured due to someone else’s actions, you can pursue compensation for the harm caused. This includes the cost of your medical treatment and lost wages, as well as the pain and suffering you’ve experienced. Pursuing this compensation starts with a claim against the at-fault party’s insurance coverage. From here, an insurance adjuster will contact you to determine your eligibility. To maximize your compensation, be sure to do the following:
Hire an Experienced Personal Injury Lawyer
Dealing with insurance adjusters after sustaining injuries can be stressful. Insurance adjusters often pretend to be on the side of an injured party. However, they’re also careful listeners. If you make even one wrong statement to a claims adjuster, they may use that statement against you in the future.
You don’t have to speak with an insurance claims adjuster yourself. Instead, strongly consider hiring an attorney from Salvi Schostok & Pritchard P.C. to handle your insurance claim. They can speak with the insurance adjuster and manage the claims process on your behalf. This way, you don’t have to worry about saying the wrong thing to an adjuster.
Understand the Role of the Insurance Adjuster
An insurance adjuster is an employee of the insurance company. When someone files an insurance claim, an adjuster determines whether the applicable policy offers coverage in this particular scenario. Insurance adjusters calculate how much money claimants should receive – or whether they should receive money at all.
It’s not the insurance adjuster’s job to ensure you receive fair compensation. Their job is to protect their employer’s bottom line, which could involve convincing you to settle for as little money as possible.
Don’t Accept the First Offer
There are various reasons not to accept an insurance adjuster’s first settlement offer, including:
- You haven’t had time to calculate the full potential value of your claim.
- The first offer may be a lowball figure the claims adjuster hopes you’ll accept before you hire a lawyer.
- If you accept the offer, you won’t be able to negotiate for a better settlement in the future.
Some insurance claims adjusters try to pressure claimants into accepting their initial offers. They make claimants feel the first offer is the best one they’ll get, and if they don’t take it, they won’t receive any money at all.
Don’t fall for this tactic. You don’t have to accept a first settlement offer. That offer is merely the start of negotiations.
Understand the Value of Your Claim
A personal injury claim can compensate you for a wide range of injury-related losses. Here are some examples of losses for which you might be eligible to receive compensation:
- Medical bills, which may include the cost of future medical treatment
- Lost wages and future loss of income
- Bills for rehabilitation services
- The cost of any necessary household services
- Travel expenses
- Emotional distress
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of consortium
An insurance adjuster is unlikely to explain all the losses for which you may receive compensation. This is yet another reason not to accept their first offer.
When pursuing a settlement, you should account for all relevant losses. An insurance adjuster may be more willing to settle if they realize you understand your claim’s full potential value.
Get Everything in Writing
It’s best to communicate with an insurance adjuster through email. Doing so ensures there is a written record of all statements they made regarding settlement terms.
You don’t want a claims adjuster to mention certain favorable terms verbally only for the final settlement contract not to include those terms. Proving the insurance adjuster made such statements may be difficult if you don’t have everything in writing.
Finish Your Medical Treatment or Reach Maximum Medical Improvement
The long-term consequences of an injury can be difficult to predict at the start of treatment. Typically, only when a patient reaches maximum medical improvement – the point at which they have recovered as much as can be expected – can their injury’s future costs be accurately estimated.
The longer a recovery takes, the greater an injured party’s financial losses may be. You may need more medical treatment than another patient if your recovery is longer than theirs. Additionally, you may be unable to work. Your financial struggles will be even greater if you’re unable to earn an income until you fully heal.
Adhere to a doctor’s prescribed treatment plan. Doing so indicates to the insurance company that you’re doing your part to speed up your recovery and minimize total costs.
That said, don’t settle your case with a claims adjuster until you’ve fully recovered. Until you fully recover, you may not know how much your claim is worth.
Do Not Give a Recorded Statement
Insurance adjusters often ask claimants to give recorded statements, perhaps implying that such a statement is required.
It’s not. You’re under no obligation to give a recorded statement to a third-party insurance provider. If an insurance adjuster asks you to do so, refuse. Their true goal with this tactic is to get you on the record saying something that might damage your claim, such as minimizing the extent of your injuries, taking blame for the cause of your injuries, or accidentally refuting statements you made elsewhere.
Don’t Accept Blame for the Incident
Never say anything to an insurance adjuster indicating you may have caused the incident. Even suggesting you contributed partially to the it can damage your chances of receiving fair compensation.
Illinois uses a modified comparative fault system. Comparative fault is a legal doctrine that states more than one person’s negligence can contribute to an accident. Sometimes, a person may sustain injuries in part because of their own negligence. When this happens, comparative fault laws can influence how much compensation an injured party receives. Every percentage of fault assigned to an injured party will reduce the amount of compensation they receive by the same percentage.
Here’s how this might play out in practice. Let’s say you make a statement suggesting you were looking at your phone shortly before the incident. This may suggest you weren’t paying full attention to your surroundings.
The insurance adjuster may suggest this means you’re 20 percent to blame for your injuries. You suffered $100,000 in damages. You’re only eligible in this example to recover $80,000 since 20 percent of the incident was due to your own negligence. Avoid this outcome by never accepting any blame.
Contact Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. for Help
An experienced personal injury attorney from Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. understands how insurance claims adjusters operate. We can offer the legal representation you deserve, preventing the insurance company from taking advantage of you. Learn more by contacting us online or calling us today for a free case review.
