HOW INSURANCE COMPANIES DETERMINE SETTLEMENT OFFERS

Insurance companies allot personal injury claims to different adjusters, who investigate the claim and determine what amount can be offered as a settlement. It is therefore important to know how these adjusters operate, when you are making a personal injury claim. Since the adjuster is an employee of the insurance company, his main concern will be to lessen the settlement amount as far as possible, or not pay at all.

Accumulating Information

The adjuster does an in-depth investigation of the personal injury case, which involves finding out the facts about the accident, and the damages sustained by the insured. This investigation is much more thorough, and the adjuster will usually know much more about the background and health facts about the plaintiff than the plaintiff’s lawyer.

Using Internet Sites and Tools

The adjuster will study the police report of the accident and will interview the insured regarding the accident. Insurance companies maintain claims databases that reveal the number of claims a person has made. Apart from researching this database, the adjuster will also research on Google to find out more about the insured, which can help in decreasing the claim amount.

There can be some startling or interesting information about someone online. On top of this, Facebook and sites such as LinkedIn can be checked too. These types of searches are pertinent, appropriate, ethical, sensible, and necessary. This information can determine the lifestyle of the insured and what other people think about this person. They can also determine if this person is a responsible person or perhaps impatient and desperate.

Apart from the thorough investigation, the adjuster will also directly ask the insured for documentation such as medical bills and records, proof of income, proof of damage to property, and tax returns. If medical records indicate, the insured had injuries or symptoms in the past than the adjuster will focus on these and say that the damages are due to previous injuries and not due to the present accident.

At a Certain Point in Time

All documentation will be reviewed meticulously by the adjuster to find out anything that might be used against the insured in lessening or denying the claim. The adjuster is not going to make any settlement offer or respond to a claims demand, unless he has received all the documentation that he or she requires.