Auto Insurance Claims: Attorney Fees for a gimmie Policy Limits Claim??, competent attorneys, underinsured motorist


Question
I WAS INVOLVED IN AN AUTO ACCIDENT MARCH 1 2007, HAVE BEEN GOING TO CHIROPRACTOR ETC, AND ALSO ORTHOPEDIC SPECIALIST WHO HAS DIAGNOSED ME WITH A HERNIATED DISK, MY QUESTION IS IN MY SETTLEMENT, I HAVE A LAWYER CAN I SUE FOR THE OTHER PERSONS ENTIRE POLICY WHICH IS 15/20/20. AND ALSO GO FOR MY UNINSURED UNDERINSURED MOTORIST 250/500/250. WITH THIS TYPE OF PERMANENT INJURY.

Answer
Dear Jeff,

I am going to be considered no better than a terrorist by your attorney, but I want to make darn sure that he does not "cut a fat hog" at your expense.  It is real easy to do in a situation like this: we pretend that we are doing a lot of work to get that money and then we take a contingency fee on it.  Ugh.  THAT is unethical, and your state bar association http://www.settlementcentral.com/links.php will provide fee relief to you if he tries to take a contingency fee on the $15K limits.  Different story on your UIM limits.

Did you know that YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HIRE AN ATTORNEY FOR BOTH THE LOW-HANGING FRUIT (the “easy pickins” $15K limits) AND THE UIM CLAIM?  You can terminate your attorney professional services agreement before he gets any fees he did not earn, and then hire him for the work that you do need him to complete, which is probably anything over $50,000 on your UIM claim.  If he does not want to do that, there are a lot of competent attorneys who will.  And they will not huff and puff and try to make you feel like a louse for trying to save unto yourself what belongs to you in the first place.

I am going to assume that what you have told me is accurate, and that your claim is a "gimmie" for policy limits of up to $50,000.  That is the minimum value of a herniated disc.

In direct answer to your question, yes, you will get the other guy's limits by sending a blind dog with a note in its mouth.  You DO NOT NEED AN ATTORNEY AT ALL FOR THAT.  So, I hope you are not paying any contingency fee whatsoever to get those limits.

It is a different story as to your own UIM coverage.  But then again, you could probably get an offer from your own company of at least $50,000 and one wonders why you would want to share one-third of that with an attorney who had to do nothing whatsoever to get that offer.  Oh, maybe he made a discount for the easy money, is that it?

What I want to see you do is to get a second opinion as to your contingency fee agreement to make sure you are not getting screwed.  Make sure that this second attorney knows that he owes you a duty of professional responsibility to advise you, instead of just trying to mend your feelings versus your existing attorney.  Here is what expect I you will learn from an independent second opinion.

FIRST, your claim has an OBVIOUS VALUE in excess of $50,000.  SECOND, any attorney who contracts with you must make provision for drastic reduction in fees in the event of a minimum policy limits on the other side.

Example: if you came into my office, our contract should have provided that in the event the tortfeasor has minimum limits, fees will be set by an hourly scale, not to exceed a certain amount.  That amount would depend upon the obvious value of the claim versus the amount of our state minimum limits.  In our state, $25,000 was the minimum, so I would have capped my fees at $1,000.

BUT IN YOUR STATE, THE LIMITS ARE ONLY $15,000 and thus the attorney should know that he could get those limits with a two paragraph demand letter and hence his fees should be capped at $500.  After all, any work he claims he did in your file for setup and so forth will inure to his benefit in the pursuit of your UIM limits.

The THIRD thing I would expect an independent attorney to tell you about is your right to have your professional services agreement modified.  If in fact your attorney did make provision for a low limits result, then you can ignore most of this answer.  BUT MY EXPERIENCE WITH MY FELLOW ATTORNEYS IS THAT THEY ALMOST NEVER MAKE SUCH A PROVISION, AND WORSE, THEY WILL TRY TO TAKE A CONTINGENCY FEE ON SOMETHING THAT THEIR SERVICES WERE NOT REQUIRED TO SECURE.  After all, the tortfeasor’s insurer has a duty to pay those limits upon a competent demand letter supported by medical records.  That is THEIR DUTY—and you or any blind dog with a note in its mouth could get that $15K.

The FOURTH thing an independent attorney would advise you would be to cure your contract so that you only hire an attorney for work that he needs to do.  That leaves you to do the easy stuff.  

What is the easy stuff?  Well, the $15K for starters.  And, if you got a herniated disc from this accident, then $50,000 of your UIM would be considered within your grasp with a simple demand letter supported by medical records and appropriate witness statements.  

So, as to those two situations, they do not seem to be a case that involves any legal issues in dispute nor any difficult proof of damages.  Why should you pay someone one-third to do what you can do yourself?  Do-It-Yourself Personal Injury Claims; Eliminate Personal Injury Attorneys' Fees; Save Thousands of Dollars Settling Your Own Insurance Claim http://www.settlementcentral.com/page3011.htm

Without having to join my website, I have given a lot of free information on handling insurance claims without having to join as a member.  Read the module at "5 Easy Steps to Do-it-Yourself Insurance Claim Settlement" http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0102.htm

This stuff is not rocket science, but it will take some effort on your part to read and cut and paste letter examples and to communicate.  But hundreds of people are doing it each day, and they are getting good results.  

You need to read up a bit on policy limits claims.  There is nothing you cannot handle yourself, including a subrogation reduction letter to your own insurance (PIP or health, or both).  Insurance Subrogation Explained http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0459.htm

You can learn how to do this yourself.  Directory of Legal Information Liability Insurance Policy Limits Settlements in Personal Injury Insurance Injury Claims http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0451.htm   

What if you get only two-thirds the way to your settlement goal?  Well, you can get as big a settlement as you can and then turn it over to an attorney and save a lot of fees.  Thus, you could go it alone just to get an insurance settlement offer, and then take that insurance settlement offer to a personal injury attorney, thus exempting the amount of the offer from her fees.  Do It Yourself Personal Injury Settlement Offer Reduces Personal Injury Attorney Fees http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0109.htm


When you consult an independent attorney for her professional opinion, the FIFTH thing I would expect her to tell you about how to stop your attorney from doing any further work in the file until you can pick it up and resolve how you want to proceed.  

From your writing I am assuming that the attorney has not yet sent out his demand letters to settle the claim.  The best thing to do is to stop him from doing any work since you can settle a “gimmie” claim yourself.  This ALSO assumes that your injuries are permanent and as severe as you maintain.  

Thus, one would conclude that your total damages, all inclusive (medical costs, wage loss to date and in future, and general damages for pain and suffering), should exceed the policy limits of $15K AND $50K of your UIM by such a margin that the tortfeasor company AND your own UIM carrier will be forced (respectively) to pay out the $15K limits and offer you somewhere around $50K UIM with little effort on the part of the claimant.  

ONCE YOU HAVE YOUR $50,000 OFFER from your own company, then you can contract with an attorney to get whatever he can above that on a contingency fee basis.  Often those contracts will be more than one-third, perhaps 36% or even 40% of what they get for you ABOVE THE OFFER YOU BROUGHT IN TO THEM.  

As an example, say that you got an offer for $45,000 of your UIM policy.  And then assume that the attorney got a total settlement of $105,000 of your UIM policy.  Thus, he got $60K on his own.  If hid fee is 40% of that amount ABOVE the offer you brought to him, then he would get $24,000, which is a fair fee.  That would leave you with $36,000 of the amount he secured.

You would end up with the $15,000 from the tortfeasor, the $45,000 from the offer you got, and the $36,000 from his efforts.  Your TOTAL IN YOUR POCKET is going to be $96,000.  NOW ASK YOURSELF IF YOU CONTINUE WITH THIS CONTRACT AS IT CURRENTLY STANDS, HOW MUCH WILL YOU HAVE IN YOUR POCKET, assuming the same settlements.


Got it?  OK, don’t get scared on me now!  Just follow along as we hit some topics in turn.  It only appears complex; really each step is simple; you just have to put in a little time to read.

You stand to save a ton of money, so put in the time and effort.  Don’t forget the part below about asking your state bar association, or your county bar association for contact information to get a lawyer referral service attorney available to guide you (see below).

See if the lawyer referral attorney will advise you to GIVE YOUR ATTORNEY NOTICE IN WRITING ASAP TO DO NO FURTHER WORK WHATSOEVER ON THE FILE.  AND TO PREPARE THE FILE FOR TRANSFER.  HE IS TO DO NOTHING FURTHER IN CONTACTING THE TORTFEASORS INSURANCE CARRIERS.

IF THE ATTORNEY SUSPECTS THAT YOU ARE GOING TO FIRE HIM, HE WILL RIGHT QUICK SEND OFF DEMAND LETTERS TO THE TWO COMPANIES SO HE CAN ARGUE THAT HIS EFFORTS WERE THE MAIN FACTOR IN GETTING THE LIMITS AWARDED.  

Thus, you have to give notice of termination ASAP.  Yes, you can always still use him if you decide to have him do something LATER.  But you MUST ENSURE that he does no further work in the case (ASSUMING YOU ARE NOT UP AGAINST ANY STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS DEADLINES http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0452.htm ).

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HOW TO SUSPEND AND/OR TERMINATE YOUR ATTORNEY'S PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT.  

This might sound like a rash step, but it is the very best way I know of to beat the attorney at his own game.  You are not going to get him to make the kind of discount you deserve simply by talking to him.  Thus, you need to take control of the situation.  Leave in the citations to your own state bar association in this letter.  THAT will get your attorney's attention pretty darn quick!

DO SOMETHING NOW!!  DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE ATTORNEY DOES MORE EASY TASKS IN YOUR CASE, thereby running up his fees doing things you could easily do for a lot less money.  

With the concurrence of your lawyer referral independent attorney, I would suggest telling the attorney to knock off all work in the file and to provide you the file.  Tell him you are suspending the agreement between you, pending a decision regarding termination.  

I do not want you to wait around and wait around trying to figure out what to write to the attorney, so I made up this letter for you to FAX OR HAND DELIVER (by someone else) (no—you DO NOT GET INTO ANY DISCUSSIONS WITH THE ATTORNEY OR HIS STAFF!  Make DARN SURE that WHOEVER delivers this letter knows to not speak with the attorney or his staff about anything until he has the file safe in his hands).

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Dear Attorney ______________________,

NOTICE OF SUSPENSION OF PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT PENDING DECISION REGARDING TERMINATION OF AGREEMENT

I hereby give notice that effective immediately, I am suspending our professional services agreement until I can investigate and decide whether to continue on with your representation or to terminate our agreement.

You are instructed to:
•   do no further work in my file;
•   have no further contact whatsoever with any insurance representative, whether from the tortfeasor's or my own company;
•   prepare my ENTIRE file (including documents stored electronically, unless paper copies are in the file) for me to pick up as soon as practicable;
•   if you decide to omit or retain anything from my file, please include a writing identifying the document(s) withheld by you and the reasons therefor.
•   should I later decide to terminate the agreement, please let me know what costs I owe to your firm;
•   assuming I agree with the costs bill, I will agree to sign a lien with the insurance company to pay the cost bill out of my award;
•   should I later decide to terminate the agreement, please let me know what attorney fees I owe to your firm;
•   assuming I agree with the attorney's fee bill, I will agree to sign a lien with the insurance company to pay the attorney's fee bill out of my award;
•   in the event I do not agree with the attorney's fee bill, I will not sign a lien, but I will suggest mediation or arbitration as provided by the (insert name of your state) State Bar Association.

I understand that you may feel entitled to payment of costs or fees at this time (BEFORE you release my file), but I do not have the funds to make such a payment, and I do need to make immediate progress on my claim, either in self-representation or obtaining new counsel.  Therefore, my file should be released without my having to pay first in accordance with ethics opinions.  I am willing to sign a lien for costs and for your fees owing, as indicated above.  

I would appreciate it if you would respect my decision in this matter and NOT call me to discuss things.  I just need to pick up my file and to review it and thereafter to decide how I wish to proceed.  

Very Truly Yours,


(insert your name)

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•   Get in touch with your state bar association http://www.settlementcentral.com/links.php

•   Find out from them how to arbitrate attorney’s fees if necessary
•   Find out from them how the lawyer referral service works in your state

These steps will give you the necessary backbone to carry off this transaction.  You will find that your own state bar association is a wonderful institution.  Many people wrongly assume that bar associations are just for the benefit of attorneys and help attorneys to win fee disputes with their clients.

Nothing could be further from the truth.  State bar associations do a lot for attorneys, to be sure.  But they also are well oriented toward providing true service to the public that interacts with attorneys.  You will find helpful folks at the state bar, and they will guide you on fee disputes.

They will not offer any guidance on the topics above regarding termination, however.  Still, they can help with finding ethics opinions such as I have cited.  And they can tell you about fee arbitration or fee mediation services as I am going to describe below.

Your state or county bar association should be able to put you in touch with a lawyer referral service.  These attorneys are volunteers who agree to help people at very low hourly rates.  NOTE: they will tell you that they cannot take on a personal injury claim.  Tell them that this is NOT for personal injury representation or guidance: all you want is help in figuring out the best way to get rid of attorney fees that were not earned and to pick up the file.  They may not wish to act in opposition to the attorney, but they should be able to give you guidance.  It would also help if you were to find a lawyer referral service attorney who would act as an escrow for minimal fees.  Ask him to pick up the file and to arrange for settlement of outstanding fees and costs owing to the attorney.  Thus, he would agree to accept the insurance checks and to pay out to the attorney the costs and whatever fees are later agreed upon, and whatever medical liens you have given, and finally, to pay the balance to you.

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WHAT IF THE ATTORNEY INSISTS ON EXERCISING HIS possessory lien rights AGAINST YOUR FILE: i.e. holding your file hostage until you make satisfactory payment of costs and fees?

In the example I included in the letter above, the client tells the attorney three things:
•   that he cannot pay at this time;
•   that he needs the file to make progress in his claim;
•   and that he will agree to sign a lien with the insurance company on those costs or fees with which he has no complaint.  

Those conditions are drawn from the Washington State Bar Association Formal Opinion 181 (1987) Asserting Possessory Lien Rights and Responding to Former Client’s Request for Files
http://www.wsba.org/lawyers/ethics/formalopinions/181.htm

SUMMARY OF FORMAL ETHICS OPINION:
"When, however, there is a dispute about the amount owed, or the client does not have the ability to pay, the lawyer cannot assert lien rights if there is any possibility of interference with the former client’s effective self-representation or representation by a new lawyer.  A lawyer cannot exercise the right to assert a lien against files and papers when withholding these documents would materially interfere with the client’s subsequent legal representation."

THE ATTORNEY MAY NOT CHARGE YOU FOR MAKING COPIES OF YOUR FILE.  If he wants copies of any of your documents, then he must do so at his expense.  
"At the conclusion of a representation, unless there is an express agreement to the contrary, the file generated in the course of representation, with limited exceptions, must be turned over to the client at the client’s request, and if the lawyer wishes to retain copies for the lawyer’s use, the copies must be made at the lawyer’s expense."

I am willing to bet that if you showed that opinion to your own state bar association, they would concur and be able to cite you to similar rules in your state.

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HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU OWE YOUR ATTORNEY FOR WHAT HE DID TO DATE?

TO ACHIEVE A FAIR AND REASONABLE PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEY FEE, LEARN AND CITE your State Rules of Professional Conduct REGARDING REASONABLE LEGAL FEES.  Your State Bar Association http://www.settlementcentral.com/links.php can help you with this, and I would not hesitate to contact them ASAP.

NO MATTER WHAT YOUR FEE AGREEMENT SAYS, YOUR STATE BAR ASSOCIATION IS NOT GOING TO LET YOUR ATTORNEY ABUSE YOU BY TAKING A FEE HIGHLY DISPROPORTIONATE TO THE WORK INVOLVED!

Here is the guidance direct from the site of the Washington State Bar Association, one of the leading institutions of its kind in the nation. www.wsba.org.  This is for illustrative purposes, but your State Bar Association will likely have the same or similar content.
Factors in Determining Reasonable Legal Fees (NOTE, MY COMMENTS WILL BE IN CAPS FOLLOWING CERTAIN FACTORS)
There are a number of factors involved in establishing a reasonable legal fee according to the Rules of Professional Conduct for lawyers.  They include:
•   the time and labor required, (HOW MANY HOURS SHOULD IT HAVE TAKEN TO DO WHATEVER IT IS HE DID?)
•   the novelty and difficulty of the questions involved, (SIMPLE TASKS HERE?)
•   the skill required to perform the legal service, (MINIMAL?)
•   the terms of any fee agreement between the lawyer and the client,
•   the fee customarily charged locally for similar legal services,
•   the likelihood, if clear to the client, that the acceptance of the particular employment will preclude the lawyer from accepting other employment;
•   the amount involved and the results obtained, (COULD THE SAME RESULTS HAVE BEEN "ACHIEVED" BY A BLIND DOG WITH A DEMAND LETTER IN HIS MOUTH?)
•   the time limitations imposed by the client or the circumstances;
•   the nature and length of the professional relationship with the client;
•   the experience, reputation, and ability of the lawyer, and
•   whether the fee agreement or any confirming writing demonstrates that the client received a reasonable and fair disclosure of material elements of the fee agreement and the lawyer's billing practices.

These, or very similar rules have been adopted by your own State Supreme Court, and your own State Bar Association does a service to the public by providing both access to the rules AND two forums for clients to enforce them versus their attorneys regarding fee disputes.

The complete rules regarding attorney fees are longer than the outline from the www.WSBA.ORG site above, but in case you want to look at them, here is the link.  Washington State Rules of Professional Conduct (cite it as RPC), Title 1.5 Fees
http://www.courts.wa.gov/court_rules/?fa=court_rules.display&group=ga&set=RPC&ru...

Note that this is NOT just something that the attorney may or may not agree with.  The preamble to the rules states as follows:
”The Rules of Professional Conduct are mandatory in character.  The rules state the minimum level of conduct below which no lawyer can fall without being subject to disciplinary action."

As I said, this pertains in your state also, so do not be afraid to confront your attorney on this topic.  

GIVEN THAT GUIDANCE, WHAT SHOULD YOUR PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEY RECEIVE FOR HIS FEES FOR WORK TO DATE?
Of course I could be wrong, but with such an obvious serious case to start with, and with you basically ignorant about the process and the value, etc., I would wonder whether your attorney really has done any legal work to date that merits a fee based upon the "going rate" for legal work in your community.

The attorney may counter that he "had to" file a lawsuit.  Or that he "had to" do this or that work.  OH REALLY?  I would counter that he knew or should have known from your  VERY FIRST INTERVIEW that this was a serious case that would settle for policy limits.  That allows you to challenge his work in bringing a lawsuit or whatever “extra” he did as nothing really needed, but just something that he did just to pad his fees or to justify taking one-third when a simple letter would have sufficed to get the policy limits.

I am NOT accusing your attorney of doing this, but I do know that it is a common practice for attorneys to make a big deal of filing a lawsuit.  Every personal injury attorney knows that in a case such as yours, there is no need whatsoever to file a lawsuit right off the bat.  But the attorney will go ahead and do so anyway.  Why?  So he can appear to be the hero who "did something."  Thus, the unsuspecting client is grateful, and never suspects that he just paid his attorney a windfall for doing nothing.  After all, the lawsuit format is ready to go on the word processor at the click of a mouse, so it does not cost the attorney any work, but it seems like a BIG DEAL to most clients who blindly let their pockets be picked.


CONSIDER YOUR STATE BAR ASSOCIATION FORUMS FOR RESOLUTION OF DISPUTES WITH ATTORNEYS

Obviously I do not know what your state bar association has in place for resolution of fee disputes, but I present the following as pretty typical throughout the country.

In the event your attorney still tries to hold out for a fee of more than $1,000 for just writing a few letters, he should consider requesting participation in one of the forums sponsored by your State Bar Association.  The Bar usually provides two forums for attorney versus client disputes.  The first one is mediation and the second one is arbitration.  Both are voluntary, but most attorneys who are asked to participate get the hint real quick and agree to go through the process.

I favor starting with mediation.  It is informal and I do not believe that your attorney will really need the mandatory binding nature of arbitration. Once he gets the notice that you are considering a State Bar Association mediation, his attitude will improve immediately.  

The Mediation Program is offered to help settle of disputes informally and promptly with the assistance of a neutral third-party mediator.

Often disputes arise out of a misunderstanding concerning the expectations and responsibilities of the parties.  These disputes may be settled agreeably once a dialogue is established. Mediators strive for open communication, with the understanding that the mediator is not acting as a lawyer or fact finder, but as a neutral individual whose purpose is to facilitate settlement between the parties.

The person beginning the process pays around $75 as a filing fee. The other side, if he or she agrees to mediate, also pays a $75 filing fee.  MEDIATION IS NOT BINDING ON THE PARTIES.


ARBITRATION
Your State Bar Association fee arbitration program has only one purpose: to decide the fair and reasonable value of the lawyer's legal services for a client.  The program is not mandatory for either lawyers or clients.  Fee arbitration does not occur unless both parties agree to arbitrate and agree on the amount in dispute.

The filing fee depends on the amount in dispute.  If the amount in dispute is under $10,000 the filing fee for each party is usually around $75.  If the amount in dispute is $10,000 or over, the filing fees are usually around $125.  FEE ARBITRATION IS BINDING ON THE PARTIES.


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Write subrogation waiver letters to your insurance carriers to get them to waive their subrogation liens.  Our members at www.SettlementCentral.Com have examples of those letters to send.

You can get some flavor on our free site at this link on policy limits.  Subrogation Free Legal Information http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0459.htm

You will want to write to all of your insurers who might have a claim on your award for repayment of the medical bills they paid.  You will basically tell them that they need to waive their subrogation claims since the tortfeasor did not have sufficient policy limits to pay your general damages (pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, future medical problems to endure, etc.).

You can learn how to do this yourself.  Directory of Legal Information Liability Insurance Policy Limits Settlements in Personal Injury Insurance Injury Claims http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0451.htm   This stuff is not rocket science, but it does require some reading and some work on your part.  Still, the savings in a big and obvious claim such as yours is tremendous.


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Settle the tortfeasor’s claim for policy limits and get a big offer on your UIM, thus cutting down on the fees owed to the attorney who will be needed to finish off your UIM claim.

Just in case you do not get help or guidance from the lawyer referral service attorney I asked you to see, here is some background on handling the claim yourselfr.  Again, DON’T FLAKE OUT ON ME NOW—YOU CAN DO THIS STUFF!!  Read the following and along with the guidance from that lawyer referral service attorney, you can settle both the policy limits claim and get a good offer in your UIM claim.

Learn how to submit and settle your own personal injury insurance claims—DO IT YOURSELF SETTLEMENTS.  Here is a series of pages that you can review.  Take what makes sense to you and don't worry about the rest.  Just get a flavor of how the system works without spending a ton of time right now.

Overview Tort Law Personal Injury Legal Claims http://www.settlementcentral.com/page3000.htm

Managing Medical Care After Auto Accident: http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0203.htm

Medical Care Documentation-the Key to Successful Personal Injury Insurance Claim Settlements http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0217.htm

Keys to a MAXIMUM INSURANCE INJURY CLAIM SETTLEMENT http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0089.htm

Use a Confidential Personal Injury Diary for TOP DOLLAR Insurance Claim Settlements http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0208.htm

Outline of questions to be expected from insurance claims adjuster http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0190.htm

Detailed listing of questions to be expected from insurance claims adjuster http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0207.htm

By the way, did you know that getting an early settlement is a favorite trick of the insurance adjusters?  Please see my website wherein we show Insurance Claim Adjuster Secret Tactics http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0092.htm

Responding to Settlement Offer From Insurance Claims Adjuster http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0244.htm



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OK, JEFF, you just got a full month’s worth of instruction.  Don’t feel intimidated.  Just take one thing at a time.  

FINAL TOPIC: Effective communication with insurance claims adjusters.  Establish Firm, Professional, and Positive Relationships With the Insurance Injury Claims Adjuster http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0059.htm

Always communicate with the adjuster in writing, showing your own analysis of value. It is OK I guess to have one call or so, but no more.   Always have your information and ammunition in writing to give to the adjuster.

Let him know that you are FIRM IN YOUR RESOLVE to get what you are demanding (NOT "asking", since that invites a counter-offer, but instead "demanding" as fair and reasonable compensation) by asking him what the options are to resolve the matter fairly should he not agree to a reasonable claim value. In other words, let him know that you will go through with a court filing if need be.

Remember these tips, do your homework, print out your evidence, show resolve to get your fair settlement, and you will DO JUST FINE.

I trust that my extra time here has produced some information that has been of value to you, and thus I would respectfully request that you take the time to locate the FEEDBACK FORM on this site and leave some feedback for me.

Best Wishes,

Dr. Settlement, J.D. (Juris Doctor)
http://www.SettlementCentral.Com