If you have sustained a personal injury as a result of another person's negligence, you may be frustrated with the process of getting fairly compensated.
Insurance companies don't have a habit of paying reasonable settlements right away and you will likely enter into negotiations of some kind while on the path to a final settlement.
It is almost a guarantee that the first offer you get for a personal injury will be low. It might not even compensate you for your medical bills.
The First Offer
An offer can come early in the process or after some weeks of back-and-forth discussion. The time of the offer depends entirely on the claims adjuster.
As you are collecting the pertinent documents, witness statements and other evidence needed to support your claim, the insurance adjuster is doing the same in order to support rejecting your claim or minimizing the amount of compensation.
Eventually, you will receive notice from the claims adjuster with an offer and explaining what they believe the claim is actually worth.
You can easily predict that the first offer will be low, or at least lower than the amount you are seeking. Rejecting a low first offer is commonplace. Moreover, claims adjusters likely know the offer is low and expect you to decline it. This essentially means negotiations have officially started.
Rejection letter
To officially reject an offer, you need to prepare a rejection letter. It's best to do this with the help of an attorney. This letter should include the reason(s) you need more money and provide a counter-offer based on the facts of your injury.
For instance, the medical bills and expenses for your injury add up to $25,000. The first offer you receive is for $10,000. The rejection letter needs to list your medical expenses in detail as the basis for your counter-offer.
The rejection letter should also list any other expenses, like lost wages or costs associated with being disabled. Perhaps you can't drive and need a ride to and from the grocery store due to an injury. Ongoing physical therapy may also be required to recover fully.
Adding up all your expenses and lost income may put a reasonable settlement amount at much higher than $10,000. Your rejection letter should explain your circumstances as specifically as possible. The insurance adjuster will consider the letter carefully and could possibly make adjustments in your favor. Or it could also lead to on-going, back-and-forth negotiations.
On-Going Negotiations
Negotiating this way is a lot of work, and it may not get you the amount of money you’re looking for. But, unless the insurance company specifically says that they will not negotiate any further, you should press on. Continuing good faith negotiation is a common result of rejecting that first settlement offer. It can also get you the settlement amount you want.
Negotiating is a back and forth process that can take a lot of time. Insurance companies are not known for paying reasonable settlements without some effort on your part. To get the best settlement, you will likely be forced to negotiate.
Sometimes your insurance company says they will not negotiate any further. However, you can continue to make counter-offers. By doing so you could get closer to the amount of compensation you were initially seeking. On the other hand, if the insurance company refuses to negotiate any further, a legal claim may be required to obtain the best outcome for you.
Take It or Leave it Tactics
The insurance company may flat out reject any option of accepting a counter-offer. This is and intimidation strategy.
If the insurance adjuster is unresponsive to the true circumstances of your injury, this is considered “bad-faith” negotiation. This can be frustrating and cost you time and money.
Most people do not wish to be involved in an extended conflict with an insurance company and some will prefer to just accept a low settlement amount rather than fight.
In most cases, you have options and changing your strategy can get your insurance settlement process back on track.
Document the Process
Throughout this entire process, you should be documenting everything by taking notes and saving all correspondence with the adjuster. Insurance adjusters should generally follow a policy of impartiality when making conclusions. If you think they are not playing fair, be sure to document it.
Keep notes on everything associated with your settlement. Phone calls and emails are particularly important. You can reference your notes as negotiations continue and help keep the process fair.
You now have records you can reference to show bad behavior by insurance adjusters. You can use those records to take control of the process and demand that it be fairer.
Your notes can be a great source of information regarding the adjuster's position. You may also use them if you wish to negotiate with someone else in the insurance company, i.e. someone higher up the ladder. Most importantly, your diligent notes could support an eventual lawsuit if all else fails.
File a Complaint
There are sometimes simply cases when you are dealing with an insurance company that has a poor reputation in settling claims or they are just not evaluating your claim properly and they just constantly offer you too little money. In that instance, you can file a consumer complaint with the Department of Insurance. In Florida, you can file it online and send it to the insurance adjuster responsible for your claim. You can also file a civil remedy notice of insurer violation to the adjuster which details why you believe they are not acting in good faith. It is highly recommended that you work with your attorney on filing complaints against an insurance adjuster.
Last Resort - File a Lawsuit
The last resort of a rejected settlement offer is a lawsuit. In Florida, This can be against the party who is responsible for your injury, the insurance company, or both.
Whatever the case, if a lawsuit is in the cards, you should know that there is a statute of limitations for filing the lawsuit. The statute of limitations for personal injury cases in Florida is four years from the date of the incident.
If negotiations are going to slow or have been put off for any reason, you might consider consulting with an attorney in order to speed up the process.
Once you hire an attorney, the insurance company will no longer deal with you directly. Once you have legal representation, all further negotiations with be handled by your attorney, at your direction.
Note: If you file a lawsuit, it does not necessarily mean that you have to take your claim all the way to trial. Most lawsuits will be settled informally outside the courtroom. The lawsuit will assist you in collecting and presenting discovery (sworn evidence) against the offending party and the insurance company.
If you and your attorney are confident that your case is strong to will in a court setting, this is a powerful tool. Rather than spending time and money resources on a weakened defense, the insurance company will return to the negotiating table. As a rule, the closer a claim comes to trial and the risk of loss to the insurance company becomes more tangible, the likelier a fair settlement will be offered to you.
Although a lawsuit is riskier and involves more resources than out-of-court settlements, they can potentially offer greater compensation. If you are not sure a lawsuit is appropriate in your circumstances, an experienced personal injury lawyer can be of great value to you.
Florida is a No-Fault State for Car Accident Insurance Claims
Because of the “NO-Fault” statute in Florida, personal injury insurance claims for car accidents are handled differently. Rather than filing your claim for compensation to the other party's insurance company, you must file your claim to your own insurance company. By law, every motorist in Florida must have personal injury protection (PIP) automobile insurance. This means that your insurance company must pay compensation for medical bills and other financial losses for car accidents, regardless of who is at fault.
According to the law, filing a no-fault car insurance claim for personal injury in Florida should mean you are not burdened with immediate medical cost or other lossed as a result of the accident. You should not have to worry about whether the insurance company will deny your claim. You don't have to prove to an insurance adjuster that the accident is the fault or the other driver.
However, this is often not as easy as it sounds. With a no-fault claim, you still are not always guaranteed compensation. The insurance company has an advantage because they can select the physician to perform the compulsory independent medical evaluation (IME) required to file your claim.
There is a lot of fraudulent activity in the process as insurance companies want to chose doctors that give them the answers they need to deny benefits. It is an ongoing concern in Florida that could result in changes in automobile insurance laws.
However, in third party insurance claims or lawsuits against the party who caused the injury or damage it is possible to recover “pain and suffering” and other "general" damages in compensation which are not available in a no-fault car insurance claim.
DOCS4PI Can Help
If you have been injured and suffer as a result of another person's negligence, you can get compensated in an efficient way which minimizes the stress insecurity in the process of negotiating your rightful claim for compensation.
Following a traumatic event, life can feel chaotic and it can be extremely difficult to determine what your priorities should be. Through DOCS4PI, people in need can now benefit from the combined knowledge of our community of medical and legal professionals in Florida.
