| 5 Keys to Negotiating Your Car Accident Claims |
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| Written by Asif L Shaikh |
| Friday, 08 April 2011 23:48 |
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A lot of people realize it is very hard to negotiate their car accident injury claims. The number one reason is that you are fighting against a tough and experienced negotiator; the auto claims adjuster. In spite of this, you can still increase your personal injury settlements using 5 key negotiation techniques.
A lot of people realize it is very hard to negotiate their car accident injury claims. The number one reason is that you are fighting against a tough and experienced negotiator; the auto claims adjuster. In spite of this, you can still increase your personal injury settlements using 5 key negotiation techniques. The very first thing you have to do is... 1. Choose Your Minimum Car Accident Injury Settlement Before you start negotiating with the auto insurance adjuster, decide on just what is the minimum settlement offer you're willing to approve. This is something you should keep to yourself and not share with the car insurance adjuster. Anytime you negotiate with someone, you should know what is your bottom line figure. By already having a minimum amount, the adjuster won't be able to bully or push you into a "take it or leave it" choice. Having a minium figure will reduce the chances of you from making a rash final decision that you may regret later. Keep in mind that, this doesn't mean you should just settle for your smallest settlement amount. To avoid getting a low car accident injury settlement you should... 2. Never Accept the First Auto Accident Settlement Offer Auto insurance adjusters are well known to give their lowest car accident settlement offer first. The adjusters blatantly give you a low accident settlement offer to see how you react. They want to see a) Do you really know how much your car accident claim is worth? b) How desperate and anxious are you to settle your claim very quickly? The first offer is definitely not the last offer. It is simply just an attempt by the insurance companies to pay you as little as possible. And since the majority of people are not aware of these negotiation tactics, many people unfortunately accept the low first offer. Not realizing that there was more money still left to work with . When you are given an offer by the insurance company, consider the following question: Is this settlement offer unreasonably low? If you think that the accident settlement offer is unreasonably low, you should . 3. Demand an Explanation for the Low Settlement If you are given a really low auto accident claims settlement, the auto insurance adjuster is checking how motivated you are to negotiate a higher settlement. When this occurs, you should ask the claims adjuster to explain their thinking for such a low settlement. Make sure you take notes of these explanations. You will use these notes to evaluate each point and afterwards write up a response letter. However , if the adjuster made some good points that you over looked, then you should slightly lower your claim. For example, perhaps the adjuster pointed a traffic violation that made your more liable for the car accident. This would make you more responsible for the accident and justifiably lower your final settlement amount. However, if the adjuster's explanation offers nothing that makes you more responsible for the car accident, then this is just a bluff. You should write a response letter where you address each point that the adjuster specifically made as being valid or invalid. Finish off of the letter, ask for a new settlement or restate your original demand. Once you have sent the response letter, wait for the adjuster to give their counter points before adjusting your final demand. When you are adjusting your final settlement demand, it is important that you... 4. Gradually Decrease Your Injury Settlement At a number of points during the negotiations you'll need to lower your initial settlement demand in order to move forward. A good range to lower you settlement is between 10%-20%. This is a good range because a) It's not significantly lower than your original demand b) It's significant enough to show you are prepared to negotiate Since the adjuster will continue to lower you settlement, its best to decrease your demand in small increments. This protects you and helps move the negotiations forward. The final thing you should know is that you shouldn't... 5. Do Not Keep Lowering Your Settlement Demand As you try to negotiate your car accident claims, the adjuster will try to lessen your initial demand. Negotiations only work if both parties are willing to budge from their initial demands. However, whenever you slightly lower claim, it's essential to wait for the claims adjuster to offer you a slightly better offer as well. You should never lower your car accident claim again before the adjuster increases their original offer. If you keep lowering your car accident claim without receiving a better offer, your claim look weak. This makes it look like your just guessing and unclear about how much your claim is worth. The insurance adjuster will keep pushing your claim further down until you give up and accept a low settlement. DISCLAIMER: This article is provided as information only and is not to be taken as financial advice. Find out more tips to increase your car accident claims and personal injury settlements |