The first step in negotiating a personal injury case is to send a letter to the defendant’s insurance adjuster detailing the plaintiff’s injuries along with medical records supplementing the letter. The second step is to send a demand package/letter once the plaintiff reached maximum medical improvement. The third step is to determine the value of the case. The purpose of this post is to detail the fourth step in negotiating the settlement of a personal injury case, which involves talking to the defense adjuster and making a counter offer. The fourth step requires utilizing a technique called “testing the waters.”
At this point, you have already received the first offer from the adjuster. You and your client have decided upon a reasonable settlement value for the case. Unless the adjuster is offering the policy limits, you should almost never accept the first offer. So, there will always be a difference between the amount of the first offer and the reasonable settlement value. I like to test the adjuster to see how firmly he or she will stand behind the first offer. In appropriate cases where the initial offer is too low, I call the adjuster and explain that the first offer is too low for us even to consider making a counter offer. I then ask the adjuster to increase the first offer to an amount that gives my client some hope that a reasonable pre-suit settlement is possible.
This accomplishes two things. Sometimes it elicits a better offer from the adjuster. This happens more often than I would expect. Even if it doesn’t elicit a better offer with the adjuster, it gives me the opportunity to see how strongly the adjuster feels about the initial offer. If the adjuster thinks her unreasonable first offer is reasonable, it lets me know that I should go ahead and file a lawsuit before making an initial counter offer. There is no need to submit a fruitless offer. If the adjuster indicates she has substantial room to move, I know that it’s safe to make a counter offer without fear of showing my hand too early.
For information on the next step in negotiating a personal injury settlement, click here.