Every accident and injury claim that is filed with an insurance provider in Nevada will involve someone known as the insurance claims adjuster. The insurance adjuster is the representative that you will be dealing with most often. It is vital not to trust an insurance adjuster – and not to rely solely on the adjuster’s opinions or advice – if you wish to protect your rights.
What Is the Role of an Insurance Adjuster?
An insurance claims adjuster refers to a representative who either works for the insurance company or is hired from a third party to investigate, evaluate and make a decision on submitted insurance claims.
The adjuster’s job is to recommend to the insurance company whether it should accept or reject a claim, as well as how much the insurance company should pay for the victim’s claimed damages resulting from an accident.
Insurance Adjusters Are Not Your Friends
On paper, an insurance adjuster’s duty is to review the facts of a claim, determine fault for an accident and calculate the case’s value. In reality, however, the insurance adjuster is relied upon by the corporation to minimize the company’s liability and maximize its profits as much as possible.
An insurance adjuster achieves these goals by downplaying injuries, reducing or delaying payouts, and denying claims. An insurance adjuster’s loyalty will always be to the insurance company, not to you. Even if an adjuster sounds friendly or sympathetic over the phone, it is imperative to keep in mind the insurance company’s main goal: to diminish your payout.
Common Ways Insurance Adjusters Undermine Claims
Insurance adjusters are highly skilled at what they do. They often have years of experience diminishing clients’ payouts and denying claims. Insurance adjusters have many tricks up their sleeves for getting you to side with them and settle for less than you deserve.
Common tactics used by insurance adjusters to undermine claims include:
- Blaming you or another party for the accident.
- Delaying your claim with an unfounded liability dispute.
- Stating that you haven’t proven your injuries.
- Alleging that your injuries were pre-existing.
- Selectively only using certain information from your medical records.
- Diminishing your payout based on delayed medical care.
- Using recorded statements to twist your own words against you.
- Pressuring you into settling quickly (rushing you before you understand your injuries).
- Rejecting or denying a valid claim.
- Offering an unreasonably low settlement.
- Convincing you not to hire an attorney.
Do not allow an insurance claims adjuster to take advantage of you because you are injured, stressed or lack experience. Take your legal rights into your own hands by learning exactly what to say and do while dealing with an insurance adjuster after an accident.
Tips for Dealing With Insurance Adjusters
An insurance claims adjuster will contact you soon after an accident – likely before you’ve had the chance to see a doctor and understand the extent of your injuries. This is intentional. The insurance adjuster wants to catch you off guard and quickly resolve your claim.
Protect your legal rights during conversations with a claims adjuster with the following tips:
- Gather information about your accident before your conversation so that you are prepared.
- Take notes or ask the adjuster’s permission to record the conversation.
- Don’t go into too much detail about the accident or injuries. Don’t provide any unnecessary information.
- Keep your answers to questions concise.
- Never admit fault or speculate as to the cause of the accident.
- Don’t say you are uninjured until you’ve been to a doctor.
- If you have pre-existing injuries that were aggravated by the accident, disclose them to the insurance company. If they aren’t relevant, don’t mention them.
- Decline to give the adjuster a recorded statement.
- Do not sign anything sent to you by an insurance company without reviewing it first.
- Do not accept a fast settlement.
- Hire an attorney to take over negotiations with an insurance adjuster for you.
Once you accept a settlement offer, your case is closed and generally cannot be reopened. You will not be able to negotiate the value of your settlement even if you discover that it is less than what your case is worth. This is why it is critical not to sign anything until you’ve spoken to a Las Vegas personal injury lawyer.
What to Do Instead of Relying on Insurance Adjusters
Take anything an insurance adjuster says with a grain of salt. Instead of blindly trusting the adjuster, take your claim and future into your own hands. Do your due diligence when it comes to understanding your losses and assigning them a monetary value. Do not trust that the value given to your claim by an adjuster is fair.
Add up all of your expenses (or economic damages) yourself, including medical bills, lost wages, property repairs and out-of-pocket costs. Don’t forget to add your foreseeable future medical costs. Then, estimate your noneconomic damages, or pain and suffering, based on the severity of your injuries.
The Benefits of Consulting With a Personal Injury Lawyer
If you get hurt in any type of accident in Nevada, document everything. The more information you gather about your incident and injuries, the stronger your case will be. Then, bring these documents to a personal injury lawyer for a free case review. Getting advice from an attorney can give you information and guidance that you can trust.
Unlike an insurance company or claims adjuster, your personal injury attorney will work for you. You can count on a lawyer to advocate for your best interests and protect your rights throughout the claims process. An attorney can take over communications with an insurance adjuster and negotiate for a fair settlement on your behalf.
Your lawyer is someone who will want you to win, not sabotage you. If the attorney operates on a contingency fee basis, as most do, the attorney won’t get paid unless you do. This incentivizes the lawyer further to get the best possible results for your claim. Even if your claim gets denied by an insurance adjuster, an attorney can help you reverse the decision or file an appeal.
You may have a lot to lose during a personal injury claim in Nevada. Don’t put your future at stake by relying solely on an insurance adjuster. Contact an attorney for a free consultation about your case instead for information you can trust.