insurance adjuster looking at car from accident

Should You Accept a Settlement Offer From the Insurance Company?

Your insurance company is meant to protect you should something bad happen, such as being injured in a car accident. You diligently pay for your policy every month believing this will be true. Unfortunately, it is all too often the case that an insurance company, whether it be yours or someone else, will quickly appear defensive and combative should you ever try to access benefits. Insurance companies are all about their bottom line. Paying out on insurance claims is something they view as bad for business. That is why insurance companies will find any chance to undermine or deny your claim. With this in mind, you should be very wary whenever it comes to contemplating a settlement offer from an insurance company.

Should You Accept a Settlement Offer From the Insurance Company?

It is often the case in personal injury claims where an insurance company will offer to settle the claim before any need for litigation. If you can reach a mutually agreeable resolution to the claim with the insurance company, everyone will benefit from avoiding the time and expense of having to go to court. Be extremely careful, however, prior to accepting any settlement offer from an insurance company.

You usually only have one shot to get the compensation you need to cover the damages you sustained in an accident. Once you accept a settlement, that’s it. That is the compensation that you will need to cover your medical bills, future medical bills, lost income, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, and the other losses resulting from an accident. This is why it is so vitally important to make sure you are accepting a fair settlement offer.

In order to help ensure that you are receiving a fair settlement offer, it is best that you have reached maximum medical improvement (MMI) in the treatment of your accident injuries. This is the point where you will have the best understanding of the extent of your injuries, the treatment involved, the treatment you will need going forward, and the limitations you will have going forward. You then take a look at your losses like your medical expenses and the cost of continued medical care, along with other damages sustained, and see how close the settlement offer comes to adequately compensate you for those losses.

There may be, of course, other mitigating factors to consider in evaluating the strength of a settlement offer. This can include questions of liability regarding who caused the accident. It may also include any previous medical conditions you may have that the insurance company may assert undermine your injury claim.

Personal Injury Attorneys

For more assurance regarding the value of your claim and whether you should accept a settlement offer from the insurance company, talk to the trusted attorneys at SoCal Injury Lawyers. We are here to protect your best interests. Contact us today.