insurance settlement negotiation

How to negotiate an insurance settlement

Should I negotiate my own insurance settlement?

If you have an insurance settlement offer you may be able to successfully negotiate a better settlement for yourself.  Your best chance is if your total damages are relatively small or your claim is with your own insurer. Here are some tips.

  • Don’t accept the first offer. Insurance companies often make low-ball offers.
  • If they believe the injury has created a financial hardship they may believe you will jump at their first offer.
    • Do what you can to cover your expenses during this time. Consistently maintaining health insurance will go a long way toward easing the financial burden of medical expenses.
    • Also, if your income has stopped or greatly reduced, consider taking advantage of any sliding scale pricing available from your medical providers. Don’t be afraid to ask.
    • Another source of financial help for medical costs are manufacturers of costly drugs. They often have special pricing available for people who can’t afford their drugs.
    • If you were in an auto accident take full advantage of any coverage you may have through your own insurance company. Check out the declarations page for coverages such as PIP (Personal Injury Protection) or underinsured motorist. They both offer coverage for your medical bills and generally are paid promptly.
  • If your claim is with your own insurance company, they will probably name your policy limits and provisions to justify their offer.
    • Make sure you know all of the provisions of your policy and ask questions of your agent if you can. In-house agents who only represent one insurance company may not be very helpful but independent agents will want to keep your business.

What is contributory fault or negligence?

Washington State has a contributory fault or contributory negligence law and the insurance adjuster may have information that leads her to believe that you were partly at fault. So, for instance, let’s say your medical bills and pain and suffering total $25,000 by their calculation. If they believe that you were 20% at fault for your injuries they will offer $20,000. All is not lost, however.

  • Ask them to document the contributory fault. That may be enough to bring the offer up.
  • If not, get your own evidence to counter their evidence. This will usually involve eyewitnesses.
    • If you are not up to the task of tracking witnesses down and questioning them about what they saw, recruit friends and family to do it for you.
    • Make sure you and the witnesses thoroughly understand what they will say to the adjuster once he asks questions. Play devil’s advocate with them.  Ask questions that probe any weaknesses or alternative interpretations of what they say. Their statements may sound great to you but once an experienced adjuster starts asking questions they may not be much help.

Put our personal injury attorneys’ 40 years of experience to work for you.

Often, however, it takes a law firm to effectively advocate for the insurance company to give you the compensation you deserve.  Call or message us for a free case review. We’ll thoroughly review the facts and if we believe we can help you get fair compensation. We stand ready to fight for you.  We know all the insurance companies’ playbook and we know how to counter them.

John Groseclose
John Groseclose, personal injury, family law attorney

Chalmers Johnson

Chalmers Johnson, personal injury attorney, employment law