Low-Ball Offers from Insurance Companies

If you have been offered a settlement by an insurance company for the person or entity who caused your injuries or even by your own insurance company, you should absolutely not accept the same without consulting with an attorney. Insurance companies have a strong systematic advantage over an unrepresented party. They have resources totaling millions if not, billions of dollars with which to investigate, defend and deny claims. They also have a structural advantage in that they deal with tens or even hundreds of thousands of cases at a time, while your experience is likely limited to the one case you are dealing with at the moment. Moreover, unless you are a licensed attorney with decades of experience in a personal injury practice you are going to be working outside your area of expertise. If you were a doctor you would not perform your own surgery. If you are not a personal injury attorney it is a bad idea to try and handle your own personal injury claim. We strongly encourage you to contact an appropriate personal injury attorney if you have been made an offer by an insurance company. The consultations at the Arthofer & Tonkin Law Offices are free and we do not earn a fee unless we make a recovery on your behalf. It has been our repeated and regular experience over more than seven decades of combined practice experience that parties who are represented by attorneys receive compensation substantially greater than those who try and handle their own cases. It is our job to make sure that you receive fair compensation for what you have had to go through. Call us today for a no-cost no obligation consultation on your personal injury matter.

DON’T! If you have been made an offer by an adverse insurance company or even your own insurance company for your personal injury claim, do not respond. Promptly contact an appropriate personal injury attorney. There are short time frames under the law, called the Statute of Limitations, which limit the amount of time you have to bring a claim. You may place your ability to make a claim in jeopardy by delaying. If you have received a settlement offer, consult with an expert in the field of personal injury law. Our initial consultations are free at the Arthofer & Tonkin Law Offices. Call us today.

There is no one size fits all answer to this question. A reasonable settlement offer is one that appropriately compensates you for all items of both economic and non-economic damages. This includes but is not limited to your past medical bills, allowances for future medical treatment, past wage loss, future wage loss, and loss of earning capacity, as well as your compensation for non-economic injuries like pain, mental suffering, inconvenience, anxiety, emotional distress, and other items of damages that are not readily subject to mathematical calculation. It takes years of experience and handling of hundreds of cases to assess what is a reasonable settlement offer in any one particular case. An experienced attorney like those at Arthofer & Tonkin has seen cases with similar injuries and similar facts and circumstances to yours. We have resolved through settlement, mediation, arbitration, or trial cases like yours and we know what a jury in the community where your incident occurred is likely to value your case. We can use this information combined with our skill, experience, and vigorous advocacy for you to make sure you are fairly compensated. Call us today for a free consultation about your case.