After being involved in an accident, you are entitled to receive compensation from the liable party. With the compensation you receive, you can readjust your life back to normal, recover the incurred losses or pay off debts due to the accident. However, obtaining compensation from an insurance company is hard, particularly when working with an insurance adjuster. This is because the adjusters limit your negotiation capacity. Their goal is to ensure that the insurance company repays the least possible amount for your accident.
However, you can ensure that your rights are fought for by working with a personal injury attorney. With a lawyer present, you are more confident about obtaining the amount you requested. Additionally, your attorney will maintain reliable communication with the responsible insurance company for a successful settlement. Working with the Las Vegas Personal Injury Attorney Law Firm to recover damages after an accident or medical malpractice is an excellent option for anyone seeking legal assistance in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Roles of Your Attorney During an Insurance Settlement Claim Process
Based on the two main challenges you may encounter when dealing with an insurance adjuster, it is always a good idea to contact your lawyer beforehand. A competent personal injury attorney understands the importance of assessing your case and helping you determine the best settlement amount to claim.
To do this, your lawyer will request you to provide relevant facts that occurred before and after your accident. Afterward, he/she applies legal expertise and experience to determine the best approach in presenting an insurance claim. Therefore, you want to provide accurate information on the liable parties who caused your injuries and an understandable record of events.
For example, if you were involved in a car accident, you can state whether the at-fault driver admitted to causing the collision. Upon gathering these facts, you will have an easier time when presenting your claim, as the insurance company will have limited opportunities to retaliate.
Apart from helping you determine the best settlement amount to claim, your lawyer also helps to:
Prepare a Demand Letter and Present it to the Insurance Company
Before you and an insurance adjuster can begin formal negotiations on the settlement claim, they need to know how much money you expect from them. To do this, you will need to prepare a demand letter that should include all necessary justifications for your amount.
When you hire a personal injury attorney to draft the letter for you, you can expect a comprehensive document highlighting your grievances and concerns. Your lawyer will rely on the facts of your accident circumstances to justify your claims, making sure to provide accurate information.
For example, a demand letter should provide a brief explanation based on the events leading to your accident and injuries. The main goal in presenting the record of events is to place liability on the insurance company as provided for in their policies. Hence, if the company insured the person who caused the accident, the body is responsible for payment of damages or compensation for your losses.
Secondly, your demand letter should expound on the severity of injuries you sustained after the accident or exposure to negligence. Under this section, you will need to expound on the different personal injuries you sustained, including subsequent conditions linked to the initial accident.
It is always recommended to consult a doctor after sustaining a personal injury regardless of how insignificant it appears. This way, you can provide a valid medical opinion on the nature of your injuries for credibility.
Most insurance settlements leave claimants dissatisfied if the insurance adjuster focuses on your failure to seek medical assistance after the accident. Therefore, the refusal to make adequate settlements becomes valid because you lack a reliable source of medical information.
Thirdly, you want to include the exact losses you incurred after sustaining personal injuries. You can mention the different medical procedures you underwent, including surgery, psychiatric sessions, and physiotherapy, to help you make a full recovery from personal injuries. Medical expenses will also include prescriptions for different medications and recurrent check-ups with your doctor.
Before presenting losses incurred by medical expenses, you need to back your claims up by preparing the necessary evidence. These include medical records like X-ray images, CT-scan results, and any other important records. By providing this evidence, you will also show that you followed the expected protocols in seeking treatment. As a result, you will have validated your claims and acquired evidence for it.
Moreover, if you lost your income source from the sustained personal injuries, your attorney can help you account for the losses in the demand letter. You will need to present the exact amounts you missed out on when you were away from your business or employment. The claims are more substantial if your income source is directly proportional to your daily output compared to other guaranteed monthly income workers.
An insurance claim can also include an amount to cater to the pain and suffering you faced after the injuries. However, you should note that making this claim can raise potential challenges. The main reason for the possible setbacks is that pain and suffering are subjective, meaning you cannot attach a fixed amount to it.
Often, you will have experienced physical and psychological distress that cannot be equated to a definite price. Nevertheless, an experienced attorney will offer reliable guidance on how to attach a settlement to the claim for a successful outcome.
After factoring in all your claims, your lawyer then concludes by indicating the subtotal settlement claim amount. The monetary claim should add to all the specified costs in the different subsections for clarity and transparency.
Preparing a Comprehensive Report on Your Financial Claims
As mentioned, your demand letter should include the exact amount of money you intend to claim for your injuries and losses related to the accident. You, therefore, need to prepare an elaborate report of all the incurred expenses for the best chances of receiving a good settlement.
Drafting the financial report is necessary because it leaves little room for doubt or suspicious alterations of the initial claims you made. When you partner with an attorney, he/she will provide professional guidance and may even take on the task to complete on your behalf.
Depending on the claims you raise, your report may consist of different subsections that require a spreadsheet format in the presentation. Alternatively, your attorney can help you meet with a professional in the financial field who will give clear instructions on making proper estimates for your claims.
Working with a professional is essential when seeking settlements for claims like pain and suffering. The inclusion of these claims may raise different complications when negotiating with the insurance adjuster, primarily because it is difficult to attach prices to the experiences. Nonetheless, a professional will give valid guidance on how to substantiate your claims in monetary amounts.
For example, if you had to seek therapy for the emotional distress that came after suffering from the accident, you can include the session bills in your demand letter. Alternatively, your attorney can apply the court’s method of attaching a numerical value to the pain and distress depending on the severity of your case.
Spearheading Negotiations With the Insurance Adjuster
After sending your demand letter to the insurance company, the negotiation stage begins. During this period, you may meet with the adjuster several times to discuss the settlement amount claimed. Doubtless, the insurance adjuster will lean towards reducing the amount in your demand letter by pointing out various factors.
Overall, the discussions are negotiations held to meet each party's ideal position. If you do not have your attorney present, the insurance adjuster can quickly influence you into accepting the offered amount with minimal negotiations.
However, your attorney will handle the situation effectively and engage the adjuster in beneficial negotiations. Thanks to the skills acquired through legal practice, you can be confident that your injury attorney will do his/her best in securing a fair settlement amount.
Despite the increased chances of reaching a successful settlement with your lawyer present, negotiations may take a long time to conclude. The situation often arises when the insurance adjuster is adamant about maintaining the initial settlement amount from the company. While the situation may become frustrating for you, your attorney will encourage the insurance adjuster to accept a reasonable compromise to your benefit.
Collection of Relevant Evidence
As discussed, writing a demand letter will include details on the severity of the incident that caused personal injuries. Moreover, you need to expound on the severity of your injuries, as well as the steps you took in seeking medical attention.
Therefore, evidence plays a crucial role in supporting your claims. Your case’s strength will persuade the insurance adjuster to comply with the demand letter and provide a satisfactory settlement amount by having reliable evidence.
The main type of evidence to present is documentary sources that prove your financial resources were exhausted by medical expenses. It is always advisable to retain original copies of any medical receipts, reports, and doctor's notes that you obtained. The need for original documents is because they are ranked as the most reliable source of documentary evidence.
Apart from this, you can access any reports on the incident that caused your injuries. For example, victims involved in a car accident can request these reports from the relevant department. You can show that you did not contribute to the accident and are therefore entitled to compensation with the details.
Sometimes, your lawyer may also come in handy to help in following up on requests. For example, some medical reports may take longer to process, requiring someone to keep checking for their release. Since the documents are an important part of the documentary evidence, you need an attorney who will ensure that you obtain them on time.
If you took any photographs or videos of the accident scene, your lawyer might also find the footage useful to present during discussions with the insurance adjuster. Often, photographs provide evidence that is hard to dispute based on the clarity of images taken.
Nevertheless, you need to remember that the insurance adjuster may dispute the validity of the images or their relevance to your matter. In this case, you will rely on your lawyer’s skills to drive the point across to the insurance adjuster. Afterward, the adjuster will be compelled to consider the photographs or videos as a reliable source of proof to show that you are entitled to compensation.
Maintaining Communication With the Insurance Adjuster
Since agreeing to a settlement is a lengthy procedure, you need to maintain communication with the insurance adjuster handling your claims. Doing this will be useful in the long run, as you will be well informed of each negotiation stage’s progress.
Maintaining communication with the liable party's insurance adjuster can also prevent you from having high expectations in your settlement outcome. While you may not receive the amount you initially expected, you will have managed your aspirations, which is often advantageous if the settlement amount is the final resort.
On top of this, an open line of communication helps both parties present their positions more efficiently. As a result, you will reduce the suspicions you have towards the insurance adjuster for the settlement that you receive. Ultimately, reaching a settlement agreement with minimum conflict is ideal for any claimant seeking compensation from an insurance company.
With your lawyer sending updates, you can also plan for meetings with the insurance adjuster or the liable party who caused the accident. Showing up for the negotiation meetings is advisable because you will follow the discussions and interject if need be. Additionally, you will schedule the meetings in your calendar to avoid the inconvenience that comes with conflicting schedules.
Sending Requests for Specific Reports
Based on the need to consolidate your evidential sources, you need to work with a lawyer who can request important documents on time. Usually, you may decide to send the requests by yourself. However, the process will be more hectic with a limited chance of success.
The procedures to follow when requesting documents vary depending on the department you need to contact. For example, you must contact the hospital that administered treatment after your accident if you require medical records as an evidential source. Most claimants will have to wait for an unspecified period before receiving their reports, primarily because of most social facilities’ busy nature.
Further, delays are also imminent even when working with an attorney. The delays can arise because a hospital or clinic lacks a designated department that compiles and hands out medical reports on request. Subsequently, the personnel may advise your attorney to wait for a few days or weeks before you can access the required documents.
Although receiving the information may take some time, your attorney can liaise with additional staff members, including interns or paralegal members working in the law firm. In doing so, youreports indicate reports from the responsible authorities.
Apart from medical reports, you may also require accident reports from professional assessors. These types of reports help in indicating the liable party's fault in causing the accident, especially if it involved vehicles. Thanks to the details given in the accident assessment report, you will have a stronger negotiation point to help secure the best settlement possible.
Drafting the Settlement Agreement After Negotiations Conclude
When your attorney and the insurance adjuster finally reach an amicable agreement on the settlement amount, he/she will draft the settlement agreement. Any legal agreement should be in writing to create a permanent record for reference. Moreover, you will need to sign the agreement after the lawyer drafts it as an assent to the settlement.
Since you will have to deal with multiple technicalities involved in drafting the settlement agreement, we recommend working with an experienced personal injury attorney. Since he/she will have worked on the demand letter, it will be easier to create the document and present it to the insurance company for approval.
Contact a Las Vegas Personal Injury Attorney Near Me
Based on the multiple advantages that your personal injury lawyer has to offer, you want to retain him/her when seeking an insurance claim settlement. A diligent attorney will create a comprehensive checklist for all the necessary procedures to undertake and follow through with them. Moreover, your attorney should express high-quality negotiation skills that will prompt the insurance adjuster to yield to your ideal settlement amount.
With the help of the Las Vegas Personal Injury Attorney Law Firm, you can recover a claim settlement from the liable insurance company to turn your life back on track. We believe in helping you obtain the best agreement terms and idea amount by applying our negotiation skills and due diligence when serving you. To reach us, give us a call today at 702-996-1224.
