Don't Insurance Adjusters Try To Be Fair? Colossus Part 1

Columbus, Ohio. Personal injury, car accident attorney David A. Bressman has helped thousands of injury victims over the past 19 years.

You are involved in a car wreck or other injury causing incident. Now the adjuster contacts you and makes all sorts of promises -- we'll treat you fairly, offer you a fair amount.... But, in many instances, the adjuster is no more than a glorified data entry technician. This is because many insurance companies use computer programs whose sole purpose is to remove the human element from claims evaluations and leave the adjuster with little to no discretion on the true value of your claim. In other words, the nice adjuster on the phone may just input your bills and then offer you whatever the soulless computer program tells her to offer you, regardless of your injuries and the effect these have on your life.

Many insurance companies now use a computer program, or one similar to it, called "Colossus." By one estimate, from 1995 to 2005, 70 percent of the auto insurance industry has implemented claims assessment software, including COLOSSUS, Claims Outcome Advisor, and InjuryIQ to evaluate bodily injury claims. These cost containment programs have resulted in plummeting case settlement values.

The effect of these programs is especially evident in "soft tissue claims." Soft tissues involve the muscles and ligaments as opposed to the "hard tissues" like bones. According to the Insurance Research Council, 85 percent of all claims involve soft tissue injuries. Within the U.S. there are approximately 6 million auto accidents per year. With Colossus analyzing more than 60 percent of these cases, the program may be analyzing up to 3 million "soft tissue" injuries per year in the U.S. alone.

Due to the prevalence of soft tissue claims, and the lack of technology presently capable of proving their existence to juries, these claims became a target for the insurance industry in its attempts to reduce claims payouts and increase pmfits. It is clear that of Colossus was developed to further the insurance industry's desire to limit payout on the largest percentage of their claims.

NEXT: More on how Colossus works.

Ways to Avoid A Car Wreck # 5

Columbus, Ohio. According to personal injury attorney, David A. Bressman, nearly 40,000 people die each year in car wrecks. Further, of the nearly 6 million car wrecks yearly, almost 50% involve an injury. The best way to avoid injury is drive safely and prudently. This, of course, is obvious but too few "experts" give any meaning to driving safely and prudently. The following series is designed to give you some practical pointers on HOW to do this.

#5: Look through the car ahead of you. Most drivers focus on the back of the vehicle in from of them when they are on crowded roads. If that driver brakes or swerves suddenly, you might have little time to react. It is better to look through the rear window and front windshield of the car you are trailing to keep an eye on the vehicle ahead of it (assuming that tinted windows or some other elements of the vehicle's design do not block your view). This will provide more warning if there is a problem on the road ahead.

Ways to Avoid A Car Wreck # 4

Columbus, Ohio. According to personal injury attorney, David A. Bressman, nearly 40,000 people die each year in car wrecks. Further, of the nearly 6 million car wrecks yearly, almost 50% involve an injury. The best way to avoid injury is drive safely and prudently. This, of course, is obvious but too few "experts" give any meaning to driving safely and prudently. The following series is designed to give you some practical pointers on HOW to do this.

#4: Keep headlights on, even during the day, if you don't have daytime running lights. This increases the odds that other drivers will see you.

Ways to Avoid A Car Wreck # 3

Columbus, Ohio. According to personal injury attorney, David A. Bressman, nearly 40,000 people die each year in car wrecks. Further, of the nearly 6 million car wrecks yearly, almost 50% involve an injury. The best way to avoid injury is drive safely and prudently. This, of course, is obvious but too few "experts" give any meaning to driving safely and prudently. The following series is designed to give you some practical pointers on HOW to do this.

#3: Brake and accelerate in a straight line on wet roads. When roads are wet or icy, try to complete your braking before you enter a turn and begin accelerating only after you have come out of it. This reduces the odds of a skid.

Ways to Avoid A Car Wreck # 2

Columbus, Ohio. According to personal injury attorney, David A. Bressman, nearly 40,000 people die each year in car wrecks. Further, of the nearly 6 million car wrecks yearly, almost 50% involve an injury. The best way to avoid injury is drive safely and prudently. This, of course, is obvious but too few "experts" give any meaning to driving safely and prudently. The following series is designed to give you some practical pointers on HOW to do this.

#2: Choose routes with intersections that have left-turn green arrows particularly if you are over age 70 or live in a region with lots of older drivers. Turning left in front of oncoming vehicles at an intersection is a common driving mistake among those over 70 because age often impairs our ability to judge the speed of approaching traffic. Such collisions are much less common where traffic lights have green arrows that let drivers know when to turn.

Ways to Avoid A Car Wreck #1

Columbus, Ohio. According to personal injury attorney, David A. Bressman, nearly 40,000 people die each year in car wrecks. Further, of the nearly 6 million car wrecks yearly, almost 50% involve an injury. The best way to avoid injury is drive safely and prudently. This, of course, is obvious but too few "experts" give any meaning to driving safely and prudently. The following series is designed to give you some practical pointers on HOW to do this.

#1: Plan well. Stay off the roads between midnight and 3 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Drunk-driving collisions are most common during these hours. The safest time to drive on weekend nights is between 9 p.m. and midnight when most heavy drinkers are still at bars and parties. Most weekday crashes occur during the morning and evening rush hours, but these tend to be less severe crashes, not the frequently fatal smashups caused by drunk drivers. If you are planning a weekend event, make sure your guests leave before the above times to ensure safest travel. As well, if you are at a party, or have a loved one at a party, do your best to set a safe time to leave [and, of course, if you have imbibed of the alcoholic beverages, don't be stupid, have someone else, a sober someone else, drive you home or be prepared to stay the night].

Questions For the Adjuster That Simply Won't Get Answered # 4

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 4: If I give you a recorded statement, can I then get a recorded statement from your own insured, i.e., the other driver?

ANSWER: No! This will never happen. It seems fair though doesn’t it? If you have to give a statement about the accident, then why can’t you also get a statement from the other driver? Yet, the insurance adjustor will never allow this for the same reasons you should never give a recorded statement to the insurance company. The adjuster wants to PIN YOU DOWN but, wisely for the insurance company, will never allows its at-fault driver to be similarly boxed in. The adjuster wants YOU to be put in a bad position, period.

Questions For the Adjuster That Simply Won't Get Answered #3

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.

"QUESTION3: Why does the adjuster insist that I have to give a recorded statement when the adjuster can get information about the accident from the police report?

ANSWER: Because the insurance company will try to use your own statements against you! In most accidents a police report will be filed and the insurance company has easy access to this report (it just takes a written request and a small fee). So why is a recorded statement necessary? Most companies have written policies in place which require the adjuster to get
a recorded statement to see if there’s any information the accident victim might reveal which could be later used to either deny the claim or pay out less money when settlement occurs.

For instance, let's say that you are contacted by the adjuster the day after the accident. You have some aches and pains but, you think, nothing too serious.The adjuster puts you on tape agreeing that you have little or no injury but, lo and behold, you wake up the next day with excruciating neck and back pain. You are now in serious trouble since you have now gone "on record" as minimizing your own injury. In effect, you have now become your own worst enemy! These recorded statements are, mostly, done to pin you down to a point in time when you might not be aware of the full extent of your injuries. They are also, mostly, done without an attorney present to advise you on what are fair, and unfair, topics.

My usual approach to requests for these types of statements -- denied!