Questions For the Adjuster That Simply Won't Get Answered #2

Columbus, Ohio. Personal injury trial lawyer, David A. Bressman, has over 20 years of experience representing injury victims. Over that time period, he has come across many who have pretty basic, fairly easy questions that they would like the insurance adjuster to honestly answer. In his experience, most adjusters either refuse to answer or provide misleading information. He presents to you a series of questions, and likely insurance company responses.

"QUESTION 2: Will the insurance company verify that the settlement amount being offered to me is fair and reasonable?"

ANSWER: The adjuster surely will TELL you what you want to hear -- of course, the settlement is fair, you wouldn't expect an insurance company to tell you any different. But the adjuster can’t verify or prove that everyone with similar injuries never receives more. Unless you are in the business of negotiating and settling injury claims there is little chance you will know whether the settlement amount that is being offered is fair. Therefore, by negotiating and settling the claim yourself without using the assistance of a professional (i.e., personal injury attorney) you run the risk of accepting a sum that may turn out to be much less than what is considered reasonable for your type of claim. Moreover, once you accept that amount, and sign the accompanying release, then you are forever barred from revisiting and reopening your settlement. In other words, you had best be sure that you are fairly, and fully, compensated before agreeing to, or signing, anything..

Common Insurance Company Arguments/Excuses #8

Columbus, Ohio. According to David A. Bressman, a personal injury lawyer who limits his practice exclusively those injured in car accidents, insurance companies use many standard arguments when trying to minimize payment to injury victims. Here is #8 in this ongoing series:

"Mistakes"

•The investigating police officer made errors in the report or erroneous conclusions that dispute
the your version of accident.
•The police were not called to the scene (inferring that it was just a minor accident).
•There was an "independent" witness who, likely, came to scene immediately after the crash but "knows" what happened.
•You id'd the wrong vehicle because the only reason you were hit was because another vehicle hit the at-fault driver's vehicle first even though there is no substantiating damage and even though you never saw this vehicle.

Common Insurance Company Arguments/Excuses # 7

Columbus, Ohio. According to David A. Bressman, a personal injury lawyer who limits his practice exclusively those injured in car accidents, insurance companies use many standard arguments when trying to minimize payment to injury victims. Here is #7 in this ongoing series:

"Your Injuries Are Invisible"

Many adjusters, often, I believe, purposely find it hard to accept the validity of injuries they can't see, especially those not well supported by objective medical evidence. Nonetheless, these injuries are real, and treatments can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars. If you suffer these injuries you can endure lifelong pain and be unable to lead a normal life. But the adjusters are trained to be skeptical and doubtful. You KNOW these injuries are real but the adjuster just refuses to believe. These injuries can include:

■ Brain Injury
■ Fibromyalgia—symptoms include chronic widespread pain accompanied by fatigue
■ Chronic fatigue syndrome—an often debilitating disorder characterized by fatigue, pain, and cognitive disorders
■ Reflex sympathetic dystrophy or complex regional pain syndrome—a disorder of the sympathetic nervous system, characterized by chronic, severe pain without apparent cause.

Common Insurance Company Arguments/Excuses # 6

Based upon feedback received, I have, slightly, altered the title of this series. As many have pointed out to me. these aren't argument, they are excuses employed by the insurance company in an organized effort to find any possible angle to reduce the amount it pays to injury victims.

Columbus, Ohio. According to David A. Bressman, a personal injury lawyer who limits his practice exclusively those injured in car accidents, insurance companies use many standard arguments when trying to minimize payment to injury victims. Here is #6 in this ongoing series:

“Nobody Knows For Sure”

•"He said/She said." You each cancel out each other's version of events. "She ran the red light, no he ran the red light." This happens alot, even when the other person admitted to being at-fault [but probably with no one else around.]. Get the at-fault to call his/her insurance agent from the scene and admit fault at that time or get someone to come to the scene [HINT: You should always call a police officer anyway] and get the admission.

•No independent witnesses to corroborate your version of the accident. [HINT: That's why you need to get names of witnesses asap and take photos too!]

• A witness cannot be found (You, not the at-fault driver, have the legal duty to prove by a "preponderance of the evidence" each element of your case.)

•The witnesses dispute your version of the facts or substantiate the at-fault driver's version.

• The physical evidence (lights. brakes. tires.photos etc.) was lost and it was necessary to have it examined by an expert to substantiate your version of the facts.

Common Insurance Company Arguments # 5

Columbus, Ohio. According to David A. Bressman, a personal injury lawyer who limits his practice exclusively those injured in car accidents, insurance companies use many standard arguments when trying to minimize payment to injury victims. Here is #5 in this ongoing series:

Shifting The Blame to Some Other Cause

• An act of God or unknown person was responsible for the accident.
In Ohio, it is very important to get the names of any witnesses as soon as you possibly can. If, for instance, you are hit by a vehicle which then leaves the scene and you don't have any "independent corroborative evidence" then you may not be covered! In other words, Ohio law presumes that you are making a fraudulent claim unless you have independent witnesses to back you up! This, regardless of your claims history and regardless of any other indicator that you are an honest person and this regardless of the number of years you have been faithfully paying your insurance premiums.

• The accident was “unavoidable.”
Few car wrecks are actually "accidents." Usually, it is a matter of poor choices. The other driver chose to talk on the phone, chose to put on makeup, chose to turn and talk to the kids, chose to stay up late the night before so that he/she is no longer as attentive, chose to drive too close, chose to swerve to avoid hitting the cat, chose to .... But that won't stop the insurance company from arguing otherwise.

• There was an “emergency” that excused the defendant’s negligence.
I.e,. unexpected heart attack, seizure or other physical condition is the usual focus of this argument.

Common Insurance Company Arguments #4

Columbus, Ohio. According to David A. Bressman, a personal injury lawyer who limits his practice exclusively those injured in car accidents, insurance companies use many standard arguments when trying to minimize payment to injury victims. Here is #4 in this ongoing series:

Making You The Bad Guy & Blaming You For The Accident

NOTE: "Defendant" is just a legal term for the person you think was the cause of the accident

•You had warning of danger within a sufficient time to avoid the accident if you were paying attention.
•You could have avoided the accident if you were not exceeding a safe speed for the road/weather conditions.
•You made an unnecessary and unexpected stop.
•You made an unsafe lane change without warning.
•You gave no stop or turn signal.
•You were backing up under circumstances and/or at a location where a reasonable person
wouldn't have anticipated same or where it was difficult for the other person to see same.
•You were not at/in the intersection first.
•If you and the defendant were in the intersection at same time, you were to the defendant's
left, exceeding the speed limit, or were inattentive.
•The defendant was acting as any "reasonable person" would have—was traveling at a safe speed for conditions and therefore was not negligent--defendants actions were not a probable cause of the accident.

Common Insurance Company Arguments #3

Columbus, Ohio. According to David A. Bressman, a personal injury lawyer who limits his practice exclusively those injured in car accidents, insurance companies use many standard arguments when trying to minimize payment to injury victims. Here is #3 in this ongoing series

Using Your Perceptions/Recollections Against You

•You didn't notice the at-fault driver until impact or immediately before impact and therefore were not paying attention.
•Your recollection of time of day, accident timing, speeds, and distances are grossly inaccurate and indicate inattentiveness or incompetence in driving and at the very least diminishes your credibility. [WHICH IS WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER GIVE A RECORDED STATEMENT WITHOUT YOUR LAWYER PRESENT]
•You exaggerate the at-fault driver's speed and other facts surrounding the accident which
diminishes your credibility and makes you an unreliable or unbelievable witness.
•You have difficulty describing events surrounding the accident in detail

Common Insurance Company Arguments #2

Columbus, Ohio. According to David A. Bressman, a personal injury lawyer who limits his practice exclusively those injured in car accidents, insurance companies use many standard arguments when trying to minimize payment to injury victims. Here is #2 in this ongoing series

Using Your Medical History Against You

•You had hearing or vision problems and weren't wearing glasses or hearing aid.
•You had other physical defects, i.e., epilepsy, headaches, sickness, etc., which impaired driving ability and perception and reaction time.
•You were on medications for other medical conditions and that medication affected your ability to drive
•You already had an injury to the same area and, thus, there is no way you could have been injured at all/or as injured as you claim
•You were going to need surgery to your neck/arm/leg/back in a few years anyway the accident merely sped up the process
•Because of the aging process, you already had bulging discs and, thus, there is no way you could have been injured at all/or as injured as you claim