You’re probably anxious to pay your mounting medical bills, make up for lost income, and repair your vehicle after an accident, so you might be thrilled to get a settlement offer from an insurance company. However, it’s usually not in your best interest to accept the first settlement offer. An experienced personal injury lawyer in San Antonio, TX can guide you through the legal process and advise you when it’s in your best interest to accept an offer and when it’s not.
Why Shouldn’t I Accept the First Settlement Offer from an Insurance Company?
When you accept a settlement offer, you generally agree not to pursue any further legal claims pertaining to the matter. This makes your decision final, which can have the following consequences:
- You can’t later sue or ask for more money.
- You could leave money on the table if your personal injury claim hasn’t been fully developed.
- You could exhaust settlement funds only to discover you had unexpected expenses.
- You may face financial hardship if you are unable to meet financial demands due to your injuries.
- You could lose the opportunity to pursue more compensation in the future.
These difficulties exemplify the importance of having experienced legal counsel on your side.
Why Insurance Companies Offer Lowball Settlement Offers
Insurance companies are for-profit entities. Their insurance adjusters are trained and sometimes incentivized to resolve claims for as little money as possible. Sometimes, they do this by offering lowball settlement offers, backed by their:
- Greater negotiating power: Insurance adjusters are aware that personal injury victims often feel desperate to resolve their claims quickly. They might be out of work, have fallen behind on their bills, and need some financial relief, so they may be willing to accept less money to get the funds they need sooner.
- Information advantage: Insurance adjusters may have more experience dealing with these claims than the claimant. They may know what others have accepted and might make a similar settlement offer. When the full extent of the victim’s injuries is unknown, they are in a better negotiating position. As long as the insurance company can resolve the claim before the victim hires an accident attorney in San Antonio, they may be able to settle the case for significantly less money than they would have if the victim were unrepresented.
- Success rate: Even if you ultimately decide not to accept the settlement offer, the insurance company has no downside to making the offer. Others have accepted such offers and saved their employer money.
Contact Us to Discuss Your Settlement Offer
If the insurance company has made a settlement offer to you, you should seek legal counsel to determine whether it is actually a good offer – or whether you’d be leaving money on the table. The experienced personal injury attorneys at George Salinas Injury Lawyers have successfully recovered millions of dollars for our clients. We offer free, no-obligation consultations to prospective clients. Call us today at 210-225-0909 for a free case review.