Sometimes people choose to hire a personal injury attorney after having a bad encounter with an insurance adjuster. If you have ever dealt with an auto accident claim, you have probably spoken with an adjuster at least once.
Who are insurance adjusters? They are employees of an insurance company who deal with accident claims. Insurance adjusters focus on evaluating claims. It is the insurance adjuster who makes a determination as to how much money to pay out.
They are different than agents who sell you insurance. Some people love their insurance company and their agent. After they are in an accident, those feelings change. Insurance adjusters can feel like the ‘dark side’ of an insurance company.
An insurance adjuster has a challenging and often times frustrating job. They are hired to look at accident claims in depth.A good adjuster is trained to question everything.
If you choose not to hire a denver personal injury attorney, you are also choosing to negotiate with them yourself.
Life of an Adjuster
When it comes down to it, insurance adjusters are just doing their job.
Most adjusters spend their days updating auto accident claim files in a database. Often, this requires a call to the claimant (or their attorney,) recording updates about medical treatment and injuries and evaluating bills. (Most adjusters will receive medical records and medical bills. They read them.)
Adjusters often oversee 250+ cases at a time, and are often evaluated by how quickly claims are closed. However, that is balanced with how sloppy these cases are evaluated. If an adjuster closes and settles cases but does so while records and other pieces of information are missing, they will not do well in the company.
Adjusters have stacks of cases on their desk–sometimes literally. One or two missing bills or records per case can quickly spiral out of control.
While you as a patient (or your attorney representative) can obtain records directly from providers using a release, adjusters often have to wait until the provider bills an insurance company.
As you can imagine, some adjusters get frustrated with people and lawyers who submit incomplete information. Like the adjuster in the video above says, making decisions based on complete information is stressful. If you want to increase the likelihood of a quick settlement, it can help to recognize this. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
How A Personal Injury Firm Can Help
Many good attorneys have developed ways to simplify the process of working with claims adjusters. This means that cases with lawyers are often settled more quickly.
This isn’t an accident.
Well qualified injury attorneys will try to present cases with complete information, in one package. This means that more often than not, an attorney will also know the details of the case inside and out. When it comes time for the adjuster to negotiate, your attorney will be at an advantage. Many insurance adjusters will not have access to that level of information. This allows these auto accident claims to be actually negotiated, instead of logistics being hashed out over and over.
Adjusters are not always pleasant, which is why when we noticed that many clients turn to us for help with their auto accident claim, we wanted to write this quick guide. Most attorneys offer free consultations. Take advantage of these services with our guide to getting the most out of a free consultation here.
