How will my insurance adjuster put a value on my claim?

August 6, 2011 | Author: Cina Longley | Posted in Insurance

Many people wonder they can't just go straight to their insurance company in the event of an accident. In fact , that is what we pay them for, right? Wrong! Insurance corporations are in the business of earning money, so before running to your insurance agent, it’s worthwhile knowing how your insurance company will value your private injury claim or auto accident.

Here is a high level view of how insurance companies establish the value of a claim. Working out how much your accident injuries are worth is a critical facet of any injury claim, and it is the part of a claim that's hardest to determine; the amount will alter and will depend upon your specific circumstances.

What is my case worth to my insurance company?

The 1st step in figuring out what your case is worth, is knowing which types of damages you get compensated for. Generally, a person who caused the accident is the one who is liable for it. That means that his or her insurance company must pay for the injured parties for:

– damaged property
– permanent physical incapacity or disfigurement
– loss of family, social, and educational experiences, including missed school or coaching, vacation or recreation, or a major event
– medical therapy and related expenses or revenue lost due to the accident, due to time expended unable to work or undergoing treatment for wounds
– emotional damages, such as stress, embarrassment, depression, or loads on family relations

How your insurance company calculates damage s

Determining compensation is not a straightforward matter of cash lost or cash spent, so the insurance companies have come up with damages formulas. It is not a precise activity to put a financial value on discomfort and suffering or losing out on diverse aspects of life you were used to collaborating in.

Step One: an insurance adjuster adds up the total hospital costs related to the injury at the start of claim negotiations. These costs are known as “medical special damages” or simply as “specials.” That is the base greenback figure the adjuster will use to figure out how much to pay the injured party for agony, suffering, and other nonmonetary losses, which are called “general” damages.

Step Two: the multiplier. When the injuries are especially distressing, serious, or long lasting, the adjuster multiplies the quantity of special damages by up to 5. When the injuries are relatively minor, the adjuster multiplies the quantity of special damages by 1.5 or 2. In extreme scenarios the multiplier may be as big as 10.

The adjuster then adds on any earnings lost as a consequence of the injuries. And voila! That's the formula. So the total of medical specials multiplied by a number between 1.5 and 5 and then adding in lost earnings will be the starting point for talks. It is in no way a final number.

The damages formula gives you a variety of how much your wounds might be worth, but only after you figure in the question of fault did you know the actual compensation value of your claim — that is, how much an insurance company will pay you. The amount to which each person is to blame is actually the most vital factor influencing how much the insurance company is likely to pay.

Whatever that rough proportion of your comparative fault could be — 10%, 50%, 75% — is the amount by which the damages formula total will be reduced to arrive at a final figure. Determining fault for an accident isn't an exact science, but in most claims you and the insurance adjuster will at least have a good idea whether the insured person was completely at fault, or if you used to be a little to blame, or if you were a lot at fault.

And so that you can see where a personal injury law firm might turn out to be useful. If you have someone on your side dealing with the insurance company’s adjuster and pointing out assorted aspects of the case (who is truly liable, the scale of your discomfort and suffering, lost income, etc), you will come out with a much better figure than if you went in to arrange on your own.

Cina Longley is one of the Los Angeles attorneys practicing in sunny Southern California. She wants everybody to know that LA attorneys are here to help

Author: Cina Longley

This author has published 3 articles so far. More info about the author is coming soon.

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