Car Accident Compensation - Getting the Settlement You Deserve

Car accident compensation means we are now talking about figuring out the money side of your car accident. If you were injured in a car accident, by another driver, you can ask the other drivers insurance to pay you a cash settlement, OR, if that driver was not insured, you may request this settlement against your own underinsured motorist coverage on your OWN insurance, if you have this coverage.

All the pressure the insurance company is putting on you right after your accident is designed to make you believe something that is not true. There is no rush. Don't allow anyone to pressure you to sign any piece of paper related to this accident without the advice of a personal injury attorney.

I am going to say this a few times because it is so important to your future, do not sign any documentation with the insurance companies in exchange for cash, until you have finished your medical treatment.

Before you go any further, you need to first check the Statute of Limitations for your State. Every State has a set time limit which begins the day of your accident. You do not need to rush, but you need to know when you State requires you to settle your claim with the insurance company or file a lawsuit.

You must do one or the other BEFORE this Statute of Limitations runs out. There is nothing that can be done if you go past this date, your rights to recover anything come to an end.

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There is nothing more difficult to write about than car accident compensation. More than anything I want to be able to help you by giving you a formula for what you should expect in fair compensation, but if you keep reading you will see why this would be foolish of me and unfair to you.

First Things First - Negligence

Before the insurance company even begins to consider your car accident compensation, what they are going to pay you, they will consider if you were at fault, and if yes, at what percentage. Make no mistake, the insurance company is highly motivated to find you even slightly at fault as this will significantly reduce any financial compensation you are due.

Again, check your State pages, listed in above paragraph, to determine what formula your State uses to determine fault, and how this determination will affect whether you are entitled to a settlement.

For some States, if you are found even 1% negligent, you are not entitled to any car accident compensation. If you are found to be even partially negligent in your accident, the at-fault insurance company will use this against you to lower or deny you any car accident compensation you might fairly be due.

Dirty Tricks

• The insurance company is looking to discredit your injury. If they can show you are not as injured as you claim to be, or they can show you should not have been as injured as you claim, they will attempt to use this to reduce what they owe you. How do they do this?
• Well, first they look at your medical records, did you say similar things to each of your providers? (All providers are required to document your visits). Did you have consistent, competent medical care/are your providers believable? Can they document properly your injury?
• Did you return to work or sports or other activities which clearly show you were not as injured as you are claiming? The adjuster is looking for these types of actions to discredit you.
• Did you have a previous injury they can use against you? They will try to find a work or auto accident injury or a weekend warrior injury to attempt to prove you are not injured from this car accident.

Dishonest Insurance Adjusters

• The at-fault insurance company may also use a software program which has a formula with no basis in reality to figure out your car accident compensation. An excellent Adler Giersch, PS, reports in their new book, From Injury To Action - that when Farmers implemented Colossus - a claim management software program that would take the true actual claim payouts, and REDUCE them by 20% before putting these numbers into Colossus, thereby skewing the entire output of this software by a reduction of 20% for all claims! Do NOT go it alone if you have a serious injury.

• Keeping the facts from the patient is often a tactic used by insurance companies to keep patients at a disadvantage and to manipulate them into closing their cases before they have completed their injury treatment. The insurance company may not tell you what actual coverage you are entitled to, or may fail to tell you for instance that you can use underinsured motorist on your own insurance if you are not adequately covered by the at-fault driver.
• Adjusters are notorious for taking advantage of car accident patients. At our injury clinic recently we have had three adjusters who flat out lied to our customers who spoke English as a second language. Our customers thought the insurance adjusters were on their side.
• One adjuster argued with a patient that she could not have possibly had a concussion from her accident as he played rugby and he had never had a concussion! Seriously! He blatantly lied to her, ignoring her medical records and the ER physician who had diagnosed her with a concussion! His goal was to try to convince her she didnt need treatment, which would create a lower car accident compensation to her when she finished treating. Her attorney set him straight!

Other Car Accident Compensation Factors

• Some of the many factors which will affect your car accident compensation on your claim - wage loss, your previous medical history, whether you have a long term disability, the visibility of your injury (scarring, disfigurement, or no visible injuries). If you have been injured seriously or disabled, please seek out the help of an attorney to make sure you are fairly compensated for your permanent injury. For help before you contact an attorney, we have prepared this page for you, Deciding if You Need An Attorney
• While we are on the topic of your car accident compensation, you may wonder what will happen if you have pain in the future you feel is related to this accident? If you close and sign off with the insurance company, any future pain, or issues you have, will NOT be paid for by the insurance. Before you settle you can negotiate with the insurance company to include funds in your settlement for future treatment. If you feel you are going to need a lot of future treatment, please find an attorney to help protect you.

Negotiating Without An Attorney

• I wanted to tell you about this book briefly before you click on the books sales page. I own this book. I purchased it, read it and applied what the author talks about in the book. Its extremely complete, full of excellent information, worksheets and examples. The book is also very long and can seem a little intimidating when you first open the sales page.

  However, the table of contents are very complete. The book is written well, and if you want to settle without an attorney, I think you will find good value in the book. It sells for $34.95, the price is slightly buried at the bottom of the page. You get to download the book immediately and start reading it. I printed mine at a local copy store and had it bound as I new I would read it often.

  You are on the page called car-accident-compensation, its the one with all the states listed, so if you come back to report on the book, look for that page and click on this little box to give me your feedback!

  How To Settle Your Own Claim
• Obviously not every case will require an attorney. If you want to negotiate with your insurance companies yourself, this is a small investment, and I think you will get alot out of this book as well. Because personal injury attorneys offer a no charge consultation, you may find this to be a valuable choice to get some feedback and tips before proceeding on your own.

Need to speak to an attorney? Free evaluation of your claim here.