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After completing her therapy with a local chiropractor, we gathered all of the medical bills and records from the hospital and the chiropractor. The total amount of the medical bills was just over $3,800. I put all of the bills and records in chronological order and put a soft demand letter together and faxed it all over to the adjuster.

One week after faxing the demand package to the adjuster I called him up to confirm that he had received everything. He confirmed that he had in fact received my fax and that he would need some time to evaluate the information. I asked when I could expect to hear from him and he said a couple of weeks.

A few weeks passed and I had not heard from the adjuster so I decided that I would follow up with him again. He informed me that he still had not evaluated my wife’s claim. (Note: This is typical from adjusters as they have lots of claims and the reason why you must be diligent on your part to keep your claim on top of their list of claims to work on.) He did mention that he would try and get me an offer in the next couple of days. Sure enough, a few days pasted and he called with the first offer.

“Let me tell you, I think this is a fair offer”, he said. “I can offer your wife $2,000 plus all of her medical bills. If you want to settle, I can have the check ready today.”

I said, “Thanks for taking the time to evaluate our claim. Let me discuss it with my wife and I will get back to you.”

Of course the adjuster thinks $2,000 is fair. Most adjusters would think $10 was a fair offer if they could get someone to sign a release. What they fail to realize is the person that went through the pain and suffering of the injury probably does not think any amount is fair. I mentioned the offer to my wife and sure enough, she was insulted. I informed her that this is typical for adjusters to offer a low amount and to not worry about it too much. Knowing what I know about the value of claims, I knew he had more money.

After helping my wife understand how claims are evaluated, we decided that we would not accept an amount less than $4,000 plus all of the medical bills. I called the adjuster and left him a voice mail indicating that we would be declining his offer and that we would be making a counteroffer of $7,000 plus the medical bills.

He called later that night in shock. “You don’t really think her claim is worth $7,000 do you?”

I said, “Well, all I know is that we are not going to accept your offer of $2,000. Why don’t you try and increase your offer and we will re-evaluate our position.”

He proceed to increase to $2,800. I decreased to $6,000. He increased to $3,500 and I decreased to $5,200. He then increased to $3,800 and I decreased to $4,500.

“$3,800 is the best I can do,” he said.

“It’s too bad we are so close yet you won’t be getting a signed release from us. I really wish we could have gotten this file off your desk, but we are looking for a specific amount and really aren’t willing to settle for anything under that amount. If you can talk to your supervisor and let her know how close we are, maybe we can reach some middle ground.”

“Let me talk to my supervisor and get back with you,” he said.

A few minutes later he called back and informed me that his supervisor would be willing to offer $4,000 plus the medical bills if we would sign the release in the morning. I talked it over with my wife and we agreed to the settlement offer. The total money offer was $7,800 ($4,000 in general damages plus $3,800 in medical bills) which is 2.05 times the medical bills.

You will note that a lot happened from start to finish on my wife’s injury claim. You can find every tactic used in my negotiations with the adjuster and information on how to evaluate your personal injury claim using our Settlement Booklet™.

First, try calling on Fridays during December. Fridays are always a good day to try and catch adjusters in a good mood. They may be feeling a little more generous if they have already had a good day.

Next, don’t tell them you need this money for Christmas. If they know you are desperate for Christmas money, they will short change you. Just negotiate as if you don’t care if it gets settled by Christmas or not. If it doesn’t get settled by Christmas, the better.

Try calling the next business day right after Christmas. Adjusters are likely in a very good mood and may be feeling a little generous. I have had a lot of success the day after holidays or the day after an adjuster has just returned from vacation. Because they are in a good mood, they often times will pass that good vibe onto you in the form of more money.

Finally, the last week of the year can always get you more money. The insurance companies and adjuster are gearing up for the new year and closing out old files. Get ahold of the adjuster and see if they are willing to add a few hundred dollars more to get you to sign a release.

Try a few of these things and you will likely score a little more money on your personal injury claim. As always, good luck.

Special damages are really simple to calculate. You have a fixed expense in medical bills and other expenses and you know exactly how much that cost you when you add them all together. If your medical bills were $2,000 and you had $50 out of pocket for prescriptions, you have $2,050 in special damages. General damages are not so easy to calculate.

When trying to figure out how much your general damages (pain and suffering) are worth, you are trying to put a price on something that does not have a price. How much is it worth to you to miss your sons t-ball game because you had a doctor appointment? $100, $200, or maybe there isn’t enough money in the world to keep you from your sons t-ball game. This is why you value your pain and suffering different than the insurance company will value your pain and suffering. You may think there is no price for missing your sons t-ball game, but the insurance company does think there is a price. Because the insurance company can not turn back the hands of time and get you to your sons t-ball game, they will offer you money instead.

So even if you really can’t put a price on your pain and suffering, when negotiating your personal injury claim with the insurance company, you will have to try. If the adjuster offers you $1,000 for pain and suffering, come back at $3,000 and see if he increases his offer. If you want to settle your claim, you and the adjuster will have to reach some common ground on the general damages portion of your personal injury claim.

5. ‘Whiplash’

Whiplash and whiplash-associated disorders represent a wide range of injuries caused by a sudden distortion of the neck.

Insurance companies often associate the term with exaggerated or fraudulent claims, so saying, “I have whiplash,” could delay the payment process.

Refer to your injuries in medical terms if you can, or wait until your doctor makes a diagnosis.

Remember, the insurance companies are in the business to make money. They can make more money in profits by paying out less money in insurance claims. Be careful in what you choose to say to the insurances companies and how you choose to say it. If you say the wrong things, you will hurt the value of your claim. If you are unsure how to answer a question from the adjuster, tell him that you will let him know the next time you speak to him and politely end the call. Then find some resources on our site or on the internet that answers the question for the adjuster and the next time you speak with him, you will be prepared to say the right things.

1. Failing to see a medical professional immediately after the accident. This is a no brainer for serious injury, but what about minor injuries? Soreness in your neck or back will go away, right? Headaches too, no? They might. They might not. Whatever the case, you lose if you don’t see a medical professional right away. This isn’t a cold you can treat on your own. It’s an injury that could worsen into something more serious over time. So see a doctor within 24 hours if you feel pain.

2. Exaggerating your pain to a medical provider. Remember, this is an auto accident not the lottery. If you’re in this hoping for a free ride, you’ll be disappointed with the results. If you’re hoping to get compensated for your treatment and the inconvenience associated with an injury, you’ll have a better chance in doing so by being up front and honest with your medical provider about your injury.

3. Talking with your doctor about filing an insurance claim or lawsuit. The doctor’s job is to treat your injury. Your job (or your lawyer’s job) is to ensure you get fair settlement from a stingy insurance company. Talking with your medical provider about your altercation with your insurance company only complicates the issue. And as soon as you file a personal injury claim, doctor confidentiality is out the window.

4. Missing your medical appointments. Defaulting on scheduled visits with your medical provider(s) suggests you may not as injured as you say you are. Don’t do it unless you want to jeopardize your claim.

5. Failing to update your medical records. Everyone knows you’re suppose to share physical ailments with your doctor. What you may not know is to share your emotional ailments with your doctor as well in the event of an auto injury. Losing sleep due to headaches and pain? Tell your doctor. Feeling depressed due to the injury? Tell your doctor. And don’t forget to maintain a personal journal as well to keep track of your medical care.

6. Failing to inform your doctor and employer when an injury is affecting your work. If you want to get compensated for wage loss or additional pain and suffering, notify the authorities. You paid for the insurance. As claimant, you’re entitled to the legitimate benefits.

7. Failing to follow or complete your treatment plan. As with reason No. 4, insurance companies will argue you aren’t as injured as you say you are if you fail to follow the treatment plan as directed by a medical professional. Hopefully you recover from an injury faster than expected. If you feel this is the case, tell your doctor and let him update the treatment plan if he chooses. But always do as prescribed. Otherwise you’ll suffer the physical and financial strains.

8. Negotiating or accepting settlement before finishing treatment. In the case of an claim, which you should open within 24 hours of your accident, the at-fault insurance company will offer fast cash to get you to sign a preemptive agreement, releasing them from further liability. This is an attempt by them to, again, maximize profits. When this happens, simply tell the adjuster your working with, “No, thank you. I’m not going to negotiate a settlement until I’ve finished my treatment, so I can be fully compensated for any unforeseen injury.”

Click here to download a free sample from our Personal Injury Settlement Booklet™ discussing medical treatment and how it affects your claim.

1. What adjuster do you have working on your claim? Every adjuster evaluates claims slightly different. You may get an adjuster that is extremely tight with their evaluation or you might get an adjuster that is a little loose with their evaluation. Every person will see your claim slightly differently.

2. What kind of treatment did you receive for your injuries? Different forms of therapy are worth different amounts to insurance companies. Picking the right type of therapy will increase your chances of getting a little bit more in your settlement.

3. How severe was the impact to your car? The larger the impact, the more believable your injuries to an adjuster.

4. How well have you documented the impact the car accident has had on your life? Pain and suffering is all about documentation. If you inform your doctors how the auto accident has impacted your life, they will put it in their records. If you keep a journal of your troubles since the accident and activities that have been negatively affected by the accident, you can present this to the adjuster to help them understand exactly the impact on your life. The better the evidence you have, the more likely you will get a little more for your settlement.

5. How well do you negotiate? Even if you have all your ducks in a row, if you lack good negotiating skills, you will never get what you deserve out of your auto accident injury settlement. Adjusters are highly trained to make you frustrated and very good at putting pressure on you to settle for less than your injury claim might be worth.

Currently, we are seeing average settlements of 2.10 the amount of the total medical bills. Depending on what type of car accident you have and what variables are in play with your injury claim, you may end up with more or less money than the “average”. To try and build the strongest claim possible in an attempt to get more than the average settlement, consider buying our Personal Injury Settlement Booklet™.

Letting your emotions dictate your negotiations is a sure fire way to lose your battle against the insurance adjuster. If you lose your cool and start making this a personal battle with the adjuster, you will never get what you are looking for. All too often people end up having to call an attorney because they just couldn’t get anywhere with the adjuster on their own. More often than not, the reason they couldn’t get anywhere with the adjuster was because the adjuster got under their skin and they lost their cool. Once that happens, negotiations stop because both parties dig their heels in and neither one wants to concede to the other.

When negotiating with the adjuster, keep your emotions checked at the door. If you feel your temperature rising, politely end the call and take a couple of days before calling the adjuster back. If you just can’t work with the adjuster, call his supervisor and ask for your file to be transfered to a new adjuster. If you are still having problems with a second adjuster, the problem is likely you. You may be the kind of person that just can’t keep their emotions in check and that’s OK, you’ll just need to hire someone to do your negotiating for you.

Case Study

Gender: Male

Age: 20’s

Type of accident: Male was a pedestrian hit by the at-fault driver

At-fault insurance company: Farmers

Type of medical care: Life flight to the hospital with a painful and lengthy recovery from a broken hip

Length of treatment: 4 months total

Settlement amount: His total money offer (medical bills and pain and suffering) was 1.47 times the total medical bills.

Example: $35,000 in medical bills times 1.47 equals a $51,450 total money settlement from Farmers.

Things to note: This person had a claim that should have gone to court. The insurance company was not offering near the value that the injured person would have likely received had he decided to file a lawsuit. However, he did not want to go to court and was in need of the money right away. Often times, people will accept low offers from the insurance companies because that feel they need the money ASAP. If you can show a little patience on your claim, you can avoid the trap of accepting an offer less than what you deserve.

The first thing to understanding how much your claim is worth is to break your claim down into two categories. The first category is your property damage. The more damage to your vehicle, the more likely you are seriously hurt. This isn’t always the case because cars are safer than they have ever been, but it is a good indication to the insurance company that you are more likely to be hurt in a serious accident versus a minor accident.

The second category is your actual medical treatment and therapy. This is the bulk of your evidence and where you really start to determine how much your accident claim is worth. If you have $500 in medical bills and you make a good recovery, your claim probably isn’t worth much more than just your medical bills. However, if you spent 3 days in the ICU and 6 months in recovery with 2 major surgeries and $60,000 in medical bills, your claim is obviously worth a lot more. The next step in determining the value of your injury claim is figuring out how the insurance company values your evidence and offers you pain and suffering for your injuries.

Most insurance companies have some form of a computer system to help them determine how much your auto injury claim is worth. Allstate and some of the other larger insurance companies use the most famous one named Collosus. The way this computer program works is you input all the CPT codes from the medical providers contained in their bills. The computer then determines what kind of injury you have based on these codes. From there, it compares your claim to every claim similar to yours that is contained in the database. It then gives the adjuster a range they can offer you to try and settle your claim.

But don’t be fooled by this system of determining the value of your claim. Every adjuster out their will low ball you in an effort to get you to sign off on a value less than what Collosus may tell them your claim is worth. There are many reasons for this. Some adjusters just like to win bragging rights with their co-workers. They can brag that they were able to get someone with a $50,000 claim to settle for $15,000. Some adjusters may low ball you to look good for management to try and get a promotion. Others may low ball you because they are jaded. Whatever the reason, you will likely get low balled by the adjuster when it comes time to negotiate.

To really determine the value of your specific claim, you need to build your case right from the very moment the accident happens. You can imagine that this can be a lengthy and complicated process and you would be right. Being that it is a complicated process, it would be impossible to really help you determine the value of your claim in a single blog post. Luckily for you, we created an easy to follow Settlement Booklet that will guide you from start to finish how how to settle your injury claim with the insurance company. Using this tool and the other resources on our site, you should have a good idea of how much your accident claim is worth and how to successfully negotiate your claim with the adjuster.