Following a car accident, insurance companies often engage the injured party immediately. While this may seem to be good news, given the financial hardships that victims go through, the initial offer should not excite you.
Very often, insurance adjusters rush to make this offer, hoping you will accept hastily and waive your right to seek additional compensation.
Remember, the true value of your claims requires weeks or even months to evaluate. Therefore, you should not rush to accept their terms without proper advice from a car accident lawyer in League City.
Before agreeing to engage the insurance company in any communication, you should keep in mind that they are a business like any other. Paying compensation affects their profits, and there’s no way they will compensate you easily.
Insurance adjusters are known to be aggressive, and facing them on your own can leave you in a tricky situation. To avoid a scenario where your settlement is lowered or where the insurance company acts in bad faith, you should channel all your communications through an attorney.
There are a few important things that you should be aware of when engaging League City insurance companies after a car accident.
By doing so, you get to know what to expect even before you meet with the insurance adjuster. Some major things you should know about League City insurance companies include:
Anything You Say Can And Will Be Used Against You
It’s very normal for a car accident victim to feel a sense of obligation when it comes to exchanging information with the insurance company. While it may seem like the right thing to do, you should never talk “too much” even when notifying your insurer about the accident.
Anything you say can and will be used to downplay your claims. Never agree to answer questions or fill out forms without speaking with an attorney first.
The Initial Offer Is Rarely Fair
After a car accident, you definitely need money to meet your new needs, such as treatment for your injuries and repair of damaged property. Insurance companies know this too well and will take advantage of your vulnerability to offer lowball compensation right away.
By doing so, the insurance company seeks to lower the amount payable to you in terms of lost wages, past and future medical bills, and auto-repair costs.
Insurance Companies Are Under No Obligation to Treat You Fairly
Even in scenarios where the driver who caused you harm admits liability, the insurance company will still treat you aggressively. They will certainly play the bad faith card, delaying to settle with you or even failing to compensate you altogether.
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Insurance Companies Will Avoid Paying Your Medical Bills
As part of the tactics used to lower your claims, insurance companies will try to avoid settling your medical claims by suggesting that you are lying about the injuries you sustained.
Most of them will claim that your injuries are from a pre-existing condition. This is often the case where injured victims fail to seek medical evaluation immediately after the accident occurs.
To avoid such an occurrence, we advise our clients to keep all medical records and follow up with treatment plans as recommended by the doctors.
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Insurance Companies Often Recommend Preferred Repair Shops
Insurance companies will often send you to their preferred auto garage to have your car fixed. Unfortunately, what many car accident victims don’t know is that these shops may have existing relationships with insurance providers.
What this means is that your car will be repaired at a very low cost, so that the final settlement you receive reflects these costs. In other cases, these garages will use cheap vehicle parts to repair your car.
For this reason, you should not agree to have your car repaired at the garage recommended by your insurer.
Insurance Companies Will Delay Settling You
The statute of limitations in any personal injury case is normally two years. Insurance companies are aware of these deadlines, which can affect how claims are handled over time.
When you decline the initial offer, insurance companies will engage you in a back-and-forth process just to beat the time limit. Without hiring an attorney to speed up the process for you, you risk losing your case and claims altogether.
Our Attorneys Can Help You Engage League City Insurance Companies After a Car Accident
You don’t have to face your insurance company alone. Speaking with our car accident lawyer at Lone Star Injury Attorneys allows you to learn and understand more about what to expect when dealing with League City insurance companies after a car accident.
Talk to us right away to get help with your case.
Call or text (832) 346-9585 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
