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.
Prepare a list of every injury, loss and inconvenience that you have suffered as a result of the accident before you agree to meet with a representative from the insurance company.
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.