After an injured victim has submitted a personal injury claim with the other party’s insurance company, the insurer assigned the new claim to one of the company’s adjusters. The adjuster then begins to consider the probable value of his/her assigned case. The personal injury lawyer that you have hired will ensure that your rights are protected and ensure that the evaluation is done correctly.
Questions that would enter the adjuster’s mind
How could the payout to this claimant be made as low as possible? Adjusters get credit for getting a claimant to accept an especially low payout. Most of the insurance companies depute adjusters to ensure that they can negotiate a low payout which works into more profit for them. That is why they try to delay the claim amount as much as possible.
How can I make sure that the claimant does not pursue a lawsuit? Adjusters do risk pushing a given claimant to initiate a lawsuit, if their bids have been unreasonably low. That is why personal injury lawyers in Sydney need to be hired so that the insurance adjuster is aware that you have professional representation and will not try pressure tactics with the accident victim.
Other questions for which an adjuster would seek answers, while attempting to determine the value of a given claim
What are the damages? Adjusters normally ask to see the claimant’s medical bills. That provides them with a better view of the claimant’s economic damages. Using those economic damages, adjusters then calculate the non-economic damages.
What are the policy limits? The adjuster should have access to the policy that will be used to show that the insurance company must reimburse a given accident victim. Some policyholders have paid for a policy with very generous limits. Adjusters know that they should have lots of time to spend on negotiations, in order to work towards a figure that could serve as a low payout.
How strong is the claimant’s case? An adjuster’s consideration of that question would reflect the his/her desire to keep the claimant from initiating a lawsuit, or to keep a jury from hitting the insurance company with the need to pay a huge sum of money.
Is there clear evidence of fault? That question would represent a different way of judging the strength of the claimant’s case. There must be proof of negligence on the part of a defendant, if the plaintiff hopes to win his/her case.
Your personal injury lawyer needs to be one step ahead of the adjuster to ensure that you get a fair deal on the settlement. That is why it helps to have an experienced lawyer that has handled similar claim processes in the past.
