Insurance companies know that a quick settlement serves to reduce the amount of time that the accident victim must wait, before receiving any monetary compensation. In fact, insurance adjusters are encouraged to settle any claim in as short a timeframe as possible. Why are such companies so eager to provide claimants with a delivery of cash?
What claimants stand to lose by having their eyes on available funds, instead of a potential payment
If an insurance company can pay for a few car repairs and the treatment of a few wounds, then it can ask the recipient of that delivered money to sign a release form. Once the company has obtained a signed release, then it the accident victim can no longer seek reimbursement for any future accident-linked losses.
The issues that could slow the rate at which the opposing sides manage to reach a settlement are also the ones that might expose a claimant’s potential right to receipt of more money.
Is there a question about the identity of the person that should be held liable for the damages? The insurance company might allege that the injured victim was partly to blame for the severity of a reported injury. When making that allegation, the insurance adjuster hopes that the claimant/victim will accept the claim that he or she was partly to blame for the size of the medical expenses. That acceptance would then cause the same claimant to lose some of the money that he or she might otherwise have struggled to keep, as a potential source of funds.
Sometimes, the insurance company questions a victim’s claims about the severity of a reported injury. Victims that lack any proof, in the form of a medical record could be forced to go along with the allegation that their reported injury was not really one that could be called “major.” Again, the quick receipt of money would be associated with the denial of money that might have been delivered to the impatient claimant.
Personal injury lawyers in Brentwood always urge their clients to delay the start of negotiations until the time when their treating physician has said that the injured party has arrived at the state of maximum medical improvement (MMI). Until that time, the claimant does not have all the necessary facts, because there could be undiscovered complications or the need for further treatment.
Due to the absence of those same facts, there would be insufficient evidence to use, when trying to develop a strong argument. In other words, any argument made by those representing the claimant might be rather weak. So, the figure agreed to at the end of the settlement would be smaller that it could have been.
