There are several things you need to consider if the insurance company has approached you with an offer—but first, you should talk to a lawyer.
In many personal injury claims, the insurance company will approach you with an initial offer early in the case. This can be tempting for many trucking accident victims who are facing the immediate financial struggle of property damage, medical bills, and lost wages; however, it is crucial that you do not immediately accept without talking to a skilled lawyer.
There are several things you need to consider when considering an initial offer:
Who Made the Offer
Having an uninsured motorist make an offer is very different from an offer
by an insurance company. In some cases, the defendant may not have the
funds to cover the damage of the car accident; this is not the case for
insurance companies. In fact, there are even "insurance guarantee"
funds to ensure claims are paid.
Timing of the Offer
The other critical factor is the timing of the offer. Very early on in
a case, especially if the plaintiff does not have proper legal representation,
the insurance companies may offer an extremely low offer compared to actual
damages. If the insurance company has reason to believe the plaintiff
is strapped for cash, the offer may be even lower.
Unfortunately, many individuals facing a truck accident case may accept a lowball offer from the insurance company because they desperately need the cash or simply don't know any better. Worse, there are attorneys who take on huge case loads, encourage all of their clients to accept these pitifully low settlement offers, and accept their attorney fees.
At Arnold & Itkin, we are committed to the success of our clients. As successful trial attorneys, we are not scared to take a case to trial; in fact, our lawyers have tried more cases already than many lawyers try in their entire careers. Should you choose to work with us, you can trust that we will do whatever we can to help you reach a positive outcome in your case.
Take for example one case where our client sustained severe back and neck injuries in an accident with a commercial truck. We took on the case and, after 20 depositions, the insurance company made a settlement offer of $5,000. That amount was unacceptable to our firm and we proceeded to take the case to trial where we successfully recovered a $1.6 million verdict on behalf of our client.
While our past cases are never a guarantee of future success, we do believe that they are demonstrative of our dedication to our clients' well-being. Just browse through our case results to see for yourself! We have recovered billions of dollars in verdicts and settlements and won cases for clients from all 50 states.
If you have been injured in an accident and don't know where to turn, give us a call. We can help.