Why You Don’t Want to Accept Your Insurer’s First Offer

Car accidents can disrupt our entire lives. Even a ‘small’ car accident can throw us into a maelstrom of medical bills, missed work, neck pain, and talking to mechanics, doctors, and insurance adjusters. Many of us just want to resolve our car accident as quickly as possible and move on, and that’s totally understandable. However, your insurance company is counting on your frustration to save them money—and it could cost you dearly in the long run.

What your insurer isn’t telling you is that their performance is tied to how much money they don’t give you. As soon as you filed your claim, your insurance company applied a complex algorithm (which uses your driving history, your age, your address, and countless other data points) to determine how much money your claim would cost the company. Your insurance rep’s goal is to convince you to accept a settlement that’s lower than that amount.

The First Settlement Offer (If There Is One)

In many cases, the insurance company will offer you an initial settlement to resolve the whole claim. Legally speaking, if you accept that money, you can’t refile the claim or ask for a do-over. Unfortunately, the insurer’s first offer is almost always less than what you actually need. You don’t just need money to repair or replace your car; you’ll also need money to make up for your lost income while you’ve been out of work, to pay for your doctor or your specialist you’ve been seeing since the accident.

In some cases, you may not even get a settlement offer—the insurer may just deny your claim outright. If your claim is denied, you have a right to know why, but the reason they give you may obscure the truth: insurance companies know they can make money on claim denials. Most people don’t have the time or resources to appeal a denied claim, so most people give up. As a result, insurance companies can keep money that rightfully belongs to their claimants.

So what’s the solution?

Call an Atlanta Car Accident Lawyer

Here’s the truth: while you may not have the time or resources to fight a denied claim (or fight for a better settlement offer), an attorney does. Kaleita Law Firm, LLC, P.C. has decades of experience fighting for people to get better results from their injury claims. Our firm is one of the most sought-after injury law firms in the Atlanta area because we know what it takes to get results. We’ve helped our clients get money for medical care, lost time at work, and other losses caused by their injuries.