Negotiating the Amount of Your Pain and Suffering Damages After you have assessed your claim and have an idea of the type of settlement you should receive, you can begin the negotiation process by sending a demand letter to the insurance company with the help of your lawyer. While many victims choose to negotiate small claims without the help of personal injury lawyers, most of these cases generally involve minor injuries and losses. The insurance company may refuse to offer you a fair settlement or accept your claim for damage and suffering. In this case, you can contact an injury lawyer and ask them to intervene at that time.
When negotiating a car accident claim, you need to be prepared and confident. When it comes to pain and suffering from damage, negotiations tend to be even tougher. You must convince the adjuster to compensate you adequately for pain and suffering. There are no laws requiring an adjuster to pay for pain and suffering, and there is no reference guide for the amount of compensation to be paid.
During negotiations, the adjuster usually has the advantage and will not pay the amount unless you convince him to do so. Remember, the insurance adjuster will probably lower you, but then you can start negotiating. It's okay if your demand is high, this will give you room to negotiate later. Learn more about responding to a low personal injury settlement offer.
Once you receive a settlement offer, you have the right to respond according to your specific needs. Most accident victims should not accept the insurance company's first offer, especially since it may not reflect the full compensation they deserve for those injuries. Instead, consult with an attorney to get a better idea of how much compensation you should expect for those injuries. The basic thing to keep in mind is that pain and suffering are essentially a measure of how car accident injuries have caused you to suffer, and remember, it also includes psychological suffering.
Negotiating the general damages portion of your personal injury claim is challenging because there are no objective ways to measure the “pain and suffering (non-economic damages) associated with car accident injuries. If you have been seriously injured in an accident, make sure you hire a qualified Chicago car accident lawyer, who can successfully negotiate on your behalf. A Chicago car accident lawyer explains that pain and suffering cannot be easily qualified, and adjusters generally disagree on the amount the victim is asking to be paid as compensation for pain and suffering. Negotiating compensation for your pain and suffering after a car accident can be challenging, but by negotiating patiently and persistently, you should be able to reach an agreement with the insurance adjuster.
And in cases where your injuries are relatively minor and the other party's fault is fairly clear, it may be cheaper to negotiate your own personal injury settlement, rather than hand over one-third of your award to an attorney (which is common practice in personal injury attorney fee agreements). If you've recovered from injuries from relatively minor car accidents, you can probably negotiate a fair settlement without an attorney, as long as you've had a little advice.
