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Five Tips for Negotiating the Best Personal Injury Settlement Possible
If you get involved in an accident, you may find yourself in a position where you must negotiate your case's settlement. If this happens right after the accident, you may not have time to hire a professional personal injury attorney!
In fact, you may be presented with an offer before you even initiate a proper claim.
To avoid an overall bad settlement, here are five tips that you have to follow!
Employing a Professional Personal Injury AttorneyObviously, the best and first thing that you should do is to hire a professional attorney. Even if you don't plan on going to court, they can help you draft a demand and, most importantly, determine the worth of your potential claim.
Moreover, such lawyers also work based on a contingency fee. This means that they won't ask for a dime unless and until they get you an offer you are happy with.
Proper Assessment of ValueAs mentioned above, your attorney will aid you in determining the worth of your injury. This worth or value is extremely important when being assaulted with offers by opposite parties/insurance companies.
You would also want to know the lowest that you'll ever go in terms of awards. You'll probably never agree to that sum, but that small amount will help you cover all of your injury-related expenses and avoid debt.
Identify and Reject Lowball OffersInsurance companies/third parties will contact you even before filing a proper claim or hiring an attorney. As such, they introduce you to their lowball offers. These offers are meant to help them escape liability – they are not meant to be valuable to you.
Naturally, lowball offers come when you have no idea how much your claim is worth. Insurance companies may present you with such an offer before you finish your recovery process. If you accept that offer, you will have to take care of future medical costs by yourself.
Backing Up Your DemandsYou should also have an idea of how much money you'd want to be awarded or settle for. This is known as your settlement demand. Still, when making such demands, you should be able to back them up properly.
If you keep a record of every expense that you incurred related to your injury, then you will be able to include everything in your demand. Also, depending on the expense, you may be eligible for additional awards in damages – for stress and so on.
The Bottom LineFinally, do not forget about the Statute of Limitations. Third parties may persuade you into not filing a claim. They trick you by saying that you will find common ground and that you don't have to go to court.
However, they'll eventually drag the agreement process for so long that you'll go beyond the three years required to file in a claim after the accident took place. Also, keep in mind that all the above can be avoided if you have a professional attorney by your side!
References and Sources
https://www.vlaw.com/negotiating-personal-injury-settlement/
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