Were you injured on the job and need to use workers compensation but not sure if you should hire a lawyer to do it? Here is what you need to know about why you'll need legal assistance.
The Insurance Adjusters Goal Is To Pay As Little As Possible
When dealing with any insurance adjuster, know that their goal is to pay you the least amount possible to compensate you for your injury. That means that you will frequently receive low offers that are not close to what you deserve to receive, or they'll claim they are making a final offer when there is actually room to give you more compensation. If you are not aware of how insurance adjusters work to try to minimize their payout, you can easily lose out on compensation because you simply don't know the process.
Having a lawyer on your side means that they are going to fight on your behalf to maximize your total compensation. A lawyer not only knows all of the tricks that are used by insurance adjusters but knows a history of what certain types of accidents are worth based on previous settlements. They can easily look up previous settlements and use that as a reference for what your workers compensation case should be worth.
The Insurance Adjuster May Try To Get You To Misspeak About Your Injury
It's important to realize that every interaction with your insurance adjuster is a chance for them to try and lower how much you are owed for your injury. They are going to ask you questions to try and get a certain response out of you to prove that your injury is not as bad as it seems or that you are recovering. This can be done through phone calls, email correspondence, and even meeting in person. If you do not have a lawyer speak on your behalf, you can easily fall for these tricks and misspeak about your injury.
For example, people naturally want to speak about things positively when it comes to their recovery and may even make it seem like things are better than what they are. If the insurance adjuster asks if you are feeling any better each time you talk, and you always say yes, this can make it seem like your recovery is trending toward getting better. When in reality, you may have slight improvements but still be suffering from the injury. Always have a lawyer speak on your behalf to avoid making any of these mistakes during normal conversations.
Reach out to a workers compensation lawyer to learn more.