Thousands of people are injured each year in automobile accidents. Thankfully, most of those injuries are minor. This article is designed to help you figure out how to collect the money you are entitled to as a result of your injuries, as well as your pain and suffering.

Legal Advice

I am not a licensed attorney. As a result, I am not entitled to provide you with legal advice. The decision to hire an attorney is one you must make on your own. However, I do have experience as a claims negotiator with a major auto insurance provider. I have worked with enough attorneys to know what types of questions you should ask. What follows is a list of questions you should ask if you decide to seek legal representation.

How do you get paid?

It might seem logical to ask an attorney how much they will charge you for their services. However, it makes much more sense to ask them how they are paid. The most common way to hire an attorney is on contingency. If you have ever seen a television advertisement that offers you a “no fee unless you win” payment arrangement, you are familiar with a contingency fee. Under this type of arrangement, the attorney charges you a percentage of either the settlement amount (if the insurance company agrees to compensate you without going to trial) or the judgment amount (the amount you win if the case goes to trial). A typical contingency fee ranges between 30 to 35 percent of the total money you collect from your injuries. You should ask the attorney the percentage of the contingency fee.

What do you think my case is worth and why?

There are two good reasons to ask this question. One reason is that you want an honest assessment of what your injuries and pain and suffering are worth. The answer to this question may help you determine whether or not you want to retain an attorney to deal with the case in the first place. To get a more accurate reading of what your case is worth, you may want to take advantage of free consultations from multiple attorneys. In this way, you will get a better idea of how to proceed. Under no circumstances should you allow a lawyer to pressure you into signing on after your first conversation.

The second reason to ask this question is to get a basic idea of the tactics that your attorney will use in your case. For example, you should proceed with caution if the attorney tells you that the value of your case depends on the bodily injury limits on the at-fault party’s insurance policy. There are two reasons for caution here. First, your injuries should be worth the same amount of compensation whether a person with high limits or low limits hit you or your vehicle. Second, you want to make sure that the attorney will treat your case the same regardless of the potential reward.

What percentage of cases do you settle out of court?

There is one thing that you, your attorney and the insurance company should all have in common; all of you should want to settle out of court if possible. When a case settles out of court, you get your compensation faster, your attorney gets their compensation faster and at lower cost, and the insurance company often saves some money as well. Ask for a percentage of cases settled.

Who will represent me? How much experience do they have?

Experience does matter, both in terms of reputation and expertise. However, the person who conducts your initial consultation is often not the same person who will represent you. Try to find out who you will be working with before your agree to be represented by any firm. In the best case scenario, the person who represents you will not be based on the limit on the bodily injury portion of the at-fault party’s policy. It is reasonable, however, to expect that more minor injuries will be assigned to less experienced lawyers. That is often the way that cases are assigned at the insurance company as well.

Making the Final Decision on Whether to Hire an Attorney

In the end, only you can decide whether or not you need an attorney to settle your claim. The questions in the previous section should help you make the decision. However, you also should consider other factors. For example, if you are not comfortable negotiating with people, it might be a good idea to retain legal help. In addition, you need to think about the time and effort it will require for you to “do it yourself.” Your time, after all, is valuable. In the case of a relatively minor injury (one where you are out of the hospital quickly, require a relatively small amount of follow-up visits to the physical therapist or chiropractor, and where you miss a small amount of work) you may be able to settle very quickly on your own. If you are severely injured, or permanently injured, your case may be more complicated than you can handle on your own.

You should also think about the amount of money that will end up in your pocket depending on whether or not you choose to “do it yourself” or hire an attorney. One item to consider is the way that insurance companies and attorneys often (though not always) differ on how you will be compensated. Many insurance companies consider the money necessary to pay your medical bills as separate from the money that you receive for your pain and suffering. Most attorneys do not separate these items. All of the money that the insurance company pays out, whether it is toward medical bills or pain and suffering, is subject to the contingency fee. Consider the following example. Your total medical bill is 2,000 dollars. The insurance company agrees to pay you 6,000 dollars for your pain and suffering. The total amount of money in your pocket after your claim is settled is 6,000 dollars). Now imagine that you retain an attorney to help you. They are better at negotiation than you are, so they secure 8,000 for your pain and suffering in addition to the money necessary to pay your bills. However, the attorney may charge a contingency fee of 30 percent. Since the total amount of your settlement was 10,000 dollars (2,000 for your medical bills and 8,000 for your pain and suffering) the attorney keeps approximately 3,300. Your net gain from retaining an attorney in this case is 700 dollars. This is another good reason to ask an attorney what he or she thinks you case is worth.

What to do if You Decide to Go it Alone

If you decide to negotiate the terms of your injury settlement with the insurance company, a bit of basic preparation and knowledge can mean the difference between a settlement that you are happy with and one you will regret. What follows is a list of three of the most basic things you should know about the process.

As an insurance adjuster, I was often accused of stalling when it came to offering a settlement to an injured party. Believe me, stalling is the last thing that the insurance company wants to do. Remember, however, that insurance companies are representing the party whose negligence lead to your injury. In order to protect their client, the insurance company will want to make sure that they are controlling their insured’s costs, as well as their own. Insurance companies do this in two main ways.

First, they try to pay you once, for all the expenses associated with your accident and its aftermath. If they wait until you are done seeking treatment, it is much less likely that you will return to them again later with more expenses. Second, the insurance company will want you to sign a release saying that what they are paying you covers your losses/pain and suffering; and that you agree not to ask for more money later. If you settle when your treatment is over, there is a better chance that you can sign a release with confidence that you have been justly compensated.

Insurance claim representatives are going to ask you for a copy of your medical records

There are two reasons why an insurance company will ask you for your complete medical history. First, they will want to verify the extent of your injuries. If you have missed six weeks of work for a stubbed toe, the insurance company is unlikely to cover your lost time (unless you missed work for the stubbed toe under doctor’s orders). Second, they want to know if you have preexisting injuries. For example, if your back is hurt in an accident the insurance company will want to know if you were in the middle of treatment for an existing injury.

Be aware that an attorney will normally not allow the release of medical records to the insurance company (with the possible exception of records related to your accident-related injuries). If you are negotiating on your own, you may find that the insurance company will be unwilling to settle if you have not signed a release.

Again, I cannot provide you with legal advice. However, if you have no previous injuries to the area that was injured in the accident, it might not be a bad idea to sign the release. If you have an existing or previous injury, you can still agree to release only the information relating to the injuries that you suffered in the accident. Remember that the fact that you have been injured before does not exempt the insurance company from paying for your current injury.

The insurance company is going to prepare in advance to negotiate with you.

In the “olden days” of auto insurance, companies used shortcuts to figure out how much money to offer someone who is injured in an accident. One of the classic shortcuts was to 1) triple the amount of your medical bills and 2) offer you that amount for pain and suffering (in addition to the actual cost of your treatment). As you might imagine, this provides an incentive for injured parties to seek more treatment.

Today, many insurance companies will essentially itemize your injuries and other loses and assign them a pain and suffering value. For example, an overnight stay in the hospital might be worth between 500 and 1000 dollars in pain and suffering money. An ambulance trip might be worth another 1000 dollars in pain and suffering compensation. Broken bones are usually worth more than soft tissue injuries (a sore neck or back, for example). Different insurance companies will have different values for different items on this list. Knowing that there is a list, however, can help you prepare for your negotiation.

The insurance company is going to contact you as quickly as possible after the accident.

The insurance company is not going to try to convince you to sign a release when you are sedated at the hospital. However, they want to convince you that you can work with them before you decide to get an attorney. As I demonstrated above, hiring an attorney has benefits and drawbacks that you must weigh on your own. However, attorney representation will almost certainly cost the insurance company more money (even in those cases where you do not receive more money in your pocket).

How to Negotiate Successfully with the Insurance Company

What follows is a list of preparation and negotiation tips that should lead to a better outcome for you.

The insurance company will make you an offer based on what they know about your loss. However, they usually will not know everything. One of the best ways to improve your settlement is to provide new information. Usually, the insurance company will know, or find out quickly, the extent of your injuries. However, they may not know that your wife is pregnant and you can no longer help her around the house because of your injury. They may have underestimated the number of days of work that your doctor says you will have to miss (each of those days probably has a pain and suffering value in addition to its normal value).

They may not know how many times you have visited the physical therapist. Maybe you were trying to have a baby and now you must stop because of your injury. An interruption of your sex-life is called loss of consortium and it often has a pain and suffering value. Perhaps the insurance company does not know that you live on an acre of land and will have to hire someone to mow the lawn. Do not be afraid to make a long list. People often do not realize how valuable their health is until they lose it in an accident. As an insurance adjuster, I often found myself revising my ideal settlements upward when I found out additional information about what happened as a result of the accident.

Let the insurance company make you an offer, then ask them how they arrived at that figure.

Talking first in a negotiation is not always a bad thing. However, in the case of an insurance settlement, you want to have an idea of what the insurance company is thinking. The first thing you should ask once they “give you a number” is how they arrived at the number. Force them to be as specific as possible. Then you can tell them all the items from the list you made that they are missing. You may well be surprised by the result. At the same time, don’t expect the claims representative to reward you with an increased offer for everything that you tick off your list.

Know in advance what you might settle for.

The “triple the medical bills” shortcut is usually toward the high end of what you might expect to receive as pain and suffering compensation. You can get a good idea of whether you and the insurance company are in the same ballpark by examining how close their initial offer is to this figure. If the insurance company offers you triple the medical bills right away, you may be able to negotiate a more favorable settlement. If the offer seems outrageously low, use the items from your list to get a more favorable offer.

Don’t expect to retire off of a minor injury

If an insurance company paid the limit on every injury claim, insurance premiums (including yours) would be quite high. At the same time, your injury is more than a series of medical bills. It is the significant interruption of a valuable life. With this in mind you should recognize that the object of an injury settlement is to compensate you for your loss, not to purchase a villa in Tuscany.

Don’t be afraid to hire an attorney after your initial meeting with the insurance company.

Sometimes, you will get the feeling that the insurance company is making you an insultingly low offer. Other times, you will just feel like you are in over your head. If this happens, don’t hesitate to seek legal help if you think you need it. Your attorney will probably be a bit upset if you signed an all-encompassing medical release. However, in this case, you can usually revoke what you have signed.

At the same time, do not use the threat of an attorney to try to get more settlement money unless you are really going to do it. The minute you say the word attorney, insurance claim representatives must become cautious. They cannot attempt to talk you out of hiring an attorney. They may raise the amount of their settlement offer, but they may also immediately break off the meeting.

Know how to protect yourself if you may require future medical treatment

No insurance company is going to settle a claim with an option for you to return to the doctor whenever you feel like it. However, you may not know a week after the accident how long it will take you to feel better. Your doctor may not even know how long it will take you to heal. One thing that you can do is negotiate a limited period of time after you receive settlement money in which you can visit the doctor if you need further treatment. The insurance company will have a special release that you will need to sign.

Typically, the insurance company will be willing to negotiate a time window of between 30 and 90 days. They may be willing to agree to more days if you are willing to limit in writing how much coverage (in dollars) that they will be required to provide during the time window. If you believe that you will need treatment for more than 90 days, the best thing to do is usually to settle when you are closer to the end of your treatment. You will not receive additional pain and suffering money, but you can help make sure that you receive the treatment you need.

Auto accidents can be some of the most frightening events in your life. However, if your injuries are minor, you will find that knowledge goes a long way toward removing your fear. This article was designed to provide you with the knowledge you need to make the most of a bad situation.