There are many tricks that an insurance adjuster can deploy to get you to accept a lowball settlement offer. Your Jacksonville personal injury lawyer will be extremely familiar with all of these tactics. Most of them will occur when the defendant’s claims representative tries to discuss settlement options with you when your Jacksonville personal injury attorney isn’t present. That’s something that simply shouldn’t happen.
Types of Lowball Settlement Offers
An insurance company will do all it can to pay the minimum amount on a personal injury settlement. Your Jacksonville personal injury attorney will point out that one of the most popular tactics is to bring up the issue of taxes. The claims rep will declare that a settlement is going to be lower because the general damages are already considered tax-free. As your Jacksonville personal injury lawyer will explain, what those reps are leaving out is the amount of taxes you would already be paying when you earn money. In other words, there is no such thing as “tax free.”
If the claims rep for the other side talks to you without your Jacksonville personal injury attorney in the room, they could bring up your attorney’s fees. “Wouldn’t it be great if you can just do away with the lawyers?” they’ll ask. That way you would have more of a settlement to take home. However, without the involvement of your Jacksonville personal injury lawyer you might not ever reach the settlement negotiations.
Getting Your Fair Due
One of the goals of your Jacksonville personal injury lawyer is to get what is fair in terms of a settlement. An insurance rep might hold back all the items that the company would actually pay for just because you didn’t ask for them. For instance, something as simple as rental car expenses could be covered. However, if it is not part of an itemized list, the insurance rep could conveniently overlook that. Your Jacksonville personal injury lawyer won’t let that happen.
Your Jacksonville Personal Injury Lawyer Will Get The Best Offer
The reason you retain the services of an experienced Jacksonville personal injury lawyer is so that they can fight for the best offer on your claim. John Fagan has a long record of success in these types of cases. Find out if he can work for you by calling his office at 904-278-1000 to discuss you case.
