During the personal injury settlement negotiation, a strategy is necessary to obtain the highest possible compensation for what you suffered. The reason why you are always recommended to higher personal injury lawyers Detroit Michigan to represent you during settlement negotiations is that they have the necessary experience to guarantee you receive more.
You will most likely work with an attorney but being aware of what you can do will surely help you make the best possible choices. This is why you should be aware of the following things you could do.
Know Your Desired Settlement Amount
Figure out the range of what the claim should be worth. Before you even start talking to the insurance adjuster, you need to decide on how much you can accept as a minimum. Obviously, this is not something that you would reveal but it is something that can help you to properly handle negotiations so you can reach that amount or higher.
Always be flexible with this amount. If the attorney points out something that can increase values, you can decide on a higher minimum amount. When the adjuster points out something you did not consider that makes the claim much weaker, you can lower the minimum figure.
Never Accept The First Offer
In an attempt to get rid of the problems you have as soon as you can, you can be tempted to accept the first offer you receive. Never accept this deal since insurance adjusters always start their negotiations with a low amount. This is a tactic that lets the insurance adjuster figure out if you actually understand the worth of the claim, together with how patient you are.
Your response depends on whether the offer is low and reasonable or very low and just a tactic. When the offer stands out as reasonable, a counteroffer can be made.
Make Adjusters Justify Lower Offers
During the very first conversation, the offer of the adjuster will be low. If it is obvious it is just a tactic, ask why the offer is low. You need to take notes and then respond to every single factor mentioned. Based on the reasons and how strong they are, the initial demand can be slightly lowered. However, it is still worth seeing if adjusters agree to what you had in mind before you go lower.
During the next meeting, start by asking for responses to what you wrote in the reply letter presented to the reasoning of the adjuster. After that, a much more reasonable offer is usually offered.
Don’t Forget About Emotional Points
The last really important thing we should highlight is that there is nothing wrong with mentioning emotional points that support the claim. For instance, when there is a picture of an injury that looks severe or a picture of a highly damaged vehicle, you can reference what is in the image. When alcohol was found in the car of the driver at fault, you can make a reference to it so you can highlight alcohol use possibility.
Although you could not put an actual dollar amount on emotional factors, they can become powerful during negotiations with insurance companies. In fact, experienced lawyers focus on that to get more for their clients.