Tips on How to Finalize a Settlement Agreement
When making a personal injury claim after a crash, don’t be surprised if your auto insurer does not agree to pay out the amount you are requesting in your claim. Sadly, more often than that not, the insurer will deny your claim entirely or a portion thereof and will generally offer much less than you probably should receive. An insurance claims adjuster is the person who is handling your personal injury claim. Many times, there will be two adjusters working on one personal injury claim. One adjuster may be working on the property damage to your vehicle and the other will be working on your bodily injury claim. Sometimes, the claims adjuster will refer out the claim to an attorney, so you may be speaking to an attorney about settling your claim. Even though you might think that it’s going to be tougher to deal with an attorney, because they know the law, handling the claim should be quite the opposite. They will see that it’s probably more important to settle this matter rather than going to court. The adjuster will have the most influence on how much money you will get for your settlement. So, once you settle on a number, they can send you the release agreement in order to finalize the settlement. Once you and the adjuster come to a verbal agreement as to how your personal injury claim will be settled, it is important that you confirm the agreement formally. To do this, it is important to understand how a verbal agreement is confirmed in a written agreement by the insurance company and how and when you will receive your settlement money. As soon as you and an insurance adjuster agree on a settlement amount, you must take two more steps to make it final. First, ask the adjuster to send you a letter confirming the settlement. If you do not receive that letter within a week, call and remind the adjuster to send it. Also, immediately send your own confirming letter to the adjuster. Although it seems that nothing could go wrong at this point, on rare occasions something does. The adjuster’s notes about the settlement negotiations could get lost. Your claim file could get lost. Or the adjuster may quit or be transferred before preparing the settlement documents. Don’t risk having to start the negotiation process all over again. Send the confirming letter-and keep a copy for yourself. Within a couple of weeks after reaching a final settlement amount with the adjuster, you will receive by mail a document entitled Settlement and Release, or Release ofAll Claims. This release serves two purposes. First, it puts in writing the insurance company’s agreement to pay you a certain amount of money to settle your claim against its insured. Second, it commits you to a final settlement of all claims from the accident. Once you sign this release, you give up your right to seek any additional compensation related to the accident regardless of what you may or may not later discover about the cause of the accident or how serious your injuries are. While you can certainly take on some of these tasks on your own, when you retain our firm to handle your personal injury case, our team of skilled personal injury lawyers will take care of everything allowing for you to focus on your recovery.
Speak with a Personal Injury Attorney in South Florida Today!
Negotiation can take place any time before during or after the litigation process and dealing with an insurance company on your own or filing a lawsuit without an attorney can be intimidating. Our personal injury attorneys can assist you with any issues you may have and more with honest, practical and sensible legal advice and clear guidance. An experienced personal injury lawyer will negotiate with the opposing side with a view toward reaching an agreement that maximizes benefits to their client. If you have a dispute or some type of issue, a good lawyer will normally try to discuss a reasonable mutually advantageous settlement or solution to your case. Our skillful attorneys are genuinely committed to our clients. We will fight to make sure that you get the maximum amount of compensation owed to you. Let us help you get the medical care you need and fight to make sure you are compensated for your injuries! Our attorneys are ready to provide proven legal representation in pursuing your claim and stand ready to protect your rights. We are available 24/7 to give you a free, no risk case consultation. We serve clients throughout Florida including those in the following areas:
Miami-Dade: Aventura, Coral Gables, Doral, Fontainebleau, Hialeah, Homestead, Kendall, Miami, Miami Beach, Miami Lakes, North Miami, Tamiami, and Westchester.
Broward: Fort Lauderdale, Hallandale Beach, Hollywood, Pembroke Pines, and Weston; and Palm Beach County including Boca Raton, Lake Worth, and West Palm Beach.