Adjusters are hired by insurance companies to protect the company’s best interests and save them as much money as possible. Even if an adjuster may want to settle a claim fairly they are bound by procedures laid out by the insurance company. Unfortunately these procedures are designed to process claims in favor of the company at the expense of the victim.
Common Tactics
- Acting like your friend: Insurance adjusters are trained to be nice to you and make it seem like they will do their best to get you a “fair” offer for damages. This is a facade as the term “fair” is open to interpretation. What the insurance company decides is a fair amount will likely be very different from what a victim needs. This is why it is necessary for those who are injured and seeking damages to hire a personal injury attorney. Attorneys know the ins-and-outs of the insurance company’s games and will fight for you to get you the best settlement possible which brings us to tactic two.
- Pretending to save you money: Adjuster will suggest that you wont need an attorney or that you will get less money by hiring an attorney because of their fees. They don’t want you to get an attorney because they know that an attorney will get more money for their client (the injured) and thus cost the insurance company more money.
- Making you look bad: The insurance company may attempt to get a recorded statement from you. Perhaps they just want to obtain the facts of the case to properly evaluate it or, what’s more likely, this is an effort to log admissions on your part that will damage your case. Many adjusters have learned how to obtain these damaging statements by utilizing leading and loaded questions. Questions like “when would you like to sign this release?” (a leading question) set people up by prompting them for the answer they want. What if you don’t want to sign a release at all? This is just one of the many tactics used by insurance companies to pressure you into settling your claim quickly and getting the least amount possible. An example of a loaded question would be “have you stopped driving while smoking?” This tricks the respondent by presuming something that is unverified (the smoking). Any direct answer to this question would put the respondent in a bad light. If the victim says yes then they are agreeing that they had smoked while driving in the past. This small detail could later be used as evidence against them to hurt their claim. If they said no then it would be presumed that they are smoking and driving even if they have never smoked a cigarette in their life.
- Refuting your medical bills: Adjusters will discount your medical bills as much as possible by insisting you didn’t need this type of treatment or that the care you received was excessive. Adjusters are not doctors, they have no medical training, it is not up to them to say how much care you did or did not need, but this is a tactic they will use to get out of as much responsibility as possible.
Don’t let them push you around! If you’ve been in any type of accident be it in a vehicle, as a pedestrian, patron, or employee call a personal injury attorney right away and protect yourself. At the Law Office of Zain W. Mohammad, we are experienced with handling cases with care. We will fight to get you the best settlement possible, not what we think is “fair.” Give us a call or send an email: 214-694-5716 / zain@paragonlegallaw.com.