How Insurance Companies Undervalue Car Accident Claims in Montgomery County

Using tactics such as disputing the severity of injuries suffered, making obscenely low settlement offers, and creating numerous delays in the claims negotiation process, insurance companies routinely undervalue Montgomery County car accident claims. 

For an injury victim to receive full compensation for their losses, it is essential to understand an insurance company’s methods to fight back effectively.

Which Methods are Most Effective at Helping Insurance Companies Undervalue Claims?

• Making an injury victim a settlement offer shortly after accepting liability for the accident is a method of undervaluing an insurance claim, often employed by insurers. Insurance companies try to take advantage of fatigued, injured, and scared claimants. Treatment may not have even finished, yet the insurance company is making a settlement offer. With no way to determine or even approximate their need for future care, an injury victim may leap at this offer to put the process behind them. This is a mistake. 
• Minimizing the severity of an accident victim’s injuries is another commonly employed method of insurance companies to undervalue a claim. This is done by second-guessing the necessity of treatment or even arguing that an injury or impairment had existed before the accident.
• Any injury victim who has gone through the claims process would agree that it does not go quickly. Insurance companies tend to slow down the negotiation of a claim by being slow to return phone calls or respond to letters. The more frustrated a person gets by how slow a case is moving, the more likely he is to accept an undervalued settlement offer. 

Modified Comparative Negligence in Pennsylvania

In Pennsylvania, if an injured person is found to be 51% or more at fault for having caused an accident, then this person would be barred from recovering compensation or damages in an insurance claim. Essentially, an injury victim can only recover financially in an accident claim if the other driver was just as at-fault or more so than he was. The total damages received in an accident claim are reduced by the percentage at-fault that the injury victim was determined to be.

What this legal reality allows insurance companies to do is attempt at every turn to push blame for the accident onto the injury victim. This happens even when their driver is clearly at fault for causing the accident. Even a small percentage of fault, if accepted by the injury victim, can significantly reduce the payout from the insurance company. 

How Injury Victims Prevent Undervalued Claims 

Despite these commonly used insurance company tactics focused on undervaluing claims, injury victims can do certain things to minimize the likelihood that they receive less than fair compensation for their losses:

• Only speak to an insurance adjuster when necessary. Preferably, hire an experienced Montgomery County car accident lawyer as soon as possible and allow the attorney to perform much of the day-to-day communication with the insurer. When an injury victim must interact with the insurance company, it is critical to express only facts from the accident.
• As we mentioned earlier, an insurance company will look for any excuse to try to argue that the victim contributed to the accident. Do not provide the insurance company with any additional reason to pursue this sort of tactic. For example, after the accident, do not apologize to the other driver. It is OK to verify that everyone is ok but taking on blame for the accident is another matter altogether.
• Medical care should be sought immediately. Even if an injury victim believes their injuries to be minor, it is still a good idea to seek medical care. In some situations, that decision is made for you, such as when an ambulance takes a person from the scene of the accident to the hospital. Otherwise, making an appointment with a primary care doctor or going to an Urgent Care Clinic can rule out certain issues and increase a victim’s likelihood of a more successful recovery. 

What Are The Benefits To Hiring a Montgomery County Car Accident Lawyer?

The methods employed by insurance companies to undervalue claims have proven to be effective. Otherwise, the insurance companies would have abandoned using them long ago. Instead, these insurers view injury victims as susceptible to these tricks. That puts a person injured in a car accident in a position where they may willingly give in to the insurance company because they see no better option. 

That does not have to be how a negotiation with an insurance company proceeds. Having an experienced Montgomery County car accident lawyer to advocate on your behalf increases the likelihood that the insurance company negotiates in good faith. This means that the low-ball tactics described earlier are less likely to be used against the injury victim. 

Insurance companies are notoriously difficult to communicate with. An attorney who serves clients injured in car accidents knows how to get an insurer’s attention. Insurance adjusters can and will use any information that they can get against the injury victim. By minimizing direct contact between the insurance company and the injury victim, an attorney can increase the value of the claim.

What Is the Value of a Car Accident Case?

The value of a car accident case depends upon many factors. Having a car accident attorney serve a client means being able to rely onw their experience in gauging those factors and their impact on a particular case. 

Ultimately, the value of a car accident claim comes down to the injuries suffered by the claimant as well as the impact of those injuries on the individual’s daily life. Future loss of earning potential, lost wages, medical bills, the cost of future medical treatment, and the impact of these impairments on the person’s relationships are all considered. 

By working with an attorney, an injury victim is better able to determine the value of their case. From there, a party can negotiate a settlement offer with the insurance company more effectively, based on a fair value of their claim. 

Contact Anthony C. Gagliano, III, Esquire, P.C. For a Free Case Review

Anthony C. Gagliano, III, Esquire, P.C. serves injury victims. Contact a Montgomery County car accident lawyer for a free case review. We fight for our client’s rights- inside and outside the courtroom.