During a personal injury case, you'll want to do everything you can to receive compensation for your injuries. Otherwise, you may find yourself unable to pay your bills when you are struggling to work and your medical bills end up much higher than you expected. Therefore, you won't want to be too eager to accept the offer made by the insurance provider of the party at fault for the accident.
Make Sure to Hold Out
It's understandable that you'll want to seek compensation for your injuries as soon as possible. However, the typical initial offer from the insurance provider will likely be much lower than you could receive. Even the second or third offer is likely to be higher than the first offer. Instead, speak with your personal injury lawyer to find out if a particular offer is worth accepting.
You might be concerned about whether you will receive your personal injury settlement in time and how long it will take to receive it. While some personal injury cases can take a long time, other cases can be resolved quickly. Make sure to ask your personal injury attorney about how long they believe your case will take to resolve.
Have a Specific Settlement Offer in Mind
Speak with your legal team about the type of settlement offer you should have in mind before you begin speaking to the defendant's legal team or their insurance provider. That way, you'll know the minimum amount you would be willing to accept.
To determine what your settlement offer should be, you will want to evaluate all of the damages that you have suffered. However, you will want to make sure that some of the damages you pursue are worth your time. For example, if you simply hurt your wrist, you may not want to seek compensation unless your injuries are so severe that they affect you for an extended period of time.
Be Willing to Adjust Your Settlement Offer
Just because you have found a settlement that you're happy with, that doesn't mean that you should not adjust it if the adjuster points out a valid reason for why your claim should be reduced. However, you will want your negotiations with the adjuster to be handled by a personal injury lawyer because you do not want to be tricked into accepting a lower settlement. For example, the adjuster might argue that you were partially at fault when the evidence doesn't support this. However, your attorney will know the tricks that an adjuster would use to try to reduce your settlement.
Talk to personal injury lawyers, such as Snyder & Wenner, P.C., to learn more about your case.