Personal injuries come in many forms, but one thing remains the same: you should contact a lawyer if you have been injured by another individual’s negligence. After you report the incident to the responsible party’s insurance company, the insurer might give you an offer and suggest you don’t contact a lawyer. Is this a good idea? Not likely. The following are some reasons you should contact your lawyer instead of accepting the offer.
Insurance Companies May Lowball the Offer
Chances are you’ve never dealt with this type of personal injury before. The insurance company knows what they are doing, but you probably don’t. This is why an insurance company will often lowball an offer. If you see an amount of money that seems large to you, there’s a possibility you’ll accept it because you don’t realize you could be entitled to a whole lot more. If you’re working with an attorney, he or she will alert you to the fact the offer is low and may encourage you to fight for more.
Insurance Representatives Are Paid Employees
When an insurance representative contacts you, he or she is getting paid to do a job. If the representative can talk you into accepting a low offer, he or she might get a higher commission on the job. Reps might use words that sound reassuring and seem like they have your best interests in mind, but they are typically only looking out for themselves and the company they work for. They’ll tell you not to bother with an attorney because they want the commission off of your lowball offer.
Insurance Companies Want to Avoid Paying Any Medical Costs
Again, insurers are looking out for their own bottom line. If they can get away with only paying a portion of your medical bills, they will do it. You may have future medical bills to consider that the insurance company won’t even look at. Instead, they’d offer you an amount for bills already incurred. Your lawyer will help you see past all that to the true amount of medical bills you’re looking at in the future, and will help you file for the right amount of damages.
Insurance Representatives Are Looking for Evidence
If you don’t have a lawyer on your side while you’re negotiating with the insurance company, the insurance representative may try to get you to say incriminating things. While it could seem innocent enough to you, they often have a way of twisting things to their own favor. Your lawyer can help you avoid saying anything you shouldn’t say.
Learning More Today
If you’ve spoken with an insurer who insisted you don’t need a lawyer, realize your best interests are probably not being taken into consideration. Call a personal injury lawyer, like from Hickey & Turim SC, today instead to learn more.