6 Reasons to Wait on Your Insurance Settlement after a Car Crash

Seeking Car Crash Legal Help is One

Have you ever shopped at a garage sale, flea market, or even a farmer’s market? Most items have a marked sticker price, but most items are negotiable. Suppose you find something you want, and you offer $10 for it. Have you ever had the person selling the goods say, “No way! I want $8 for that!” Of course not, that’s absurd. When you are in a car crash, insurance companies are the business that you’re negotiating with. But they aren’t going to undercut their profits by offering you a huge settlement unless they have to. Instead, you get a low ball settlement offer that is designed to shoo you out the door. Of course, when you have car crash legal help, there are ways to push back. Let’s review 6 reasons you should wait to accept your insurance settlement.

You have Hired an Attorney

In a perfect world, we would have our needs met and corporations (like insurance companies) would do the right thing the first time. Unfortunately, our world isn’t perfect. Hiring a car wreck attorney is often necessary to sort out responsibility.

The good news: once you hire an attorney like Zach Herbert, he takes care of it all. You can wait on the settlement knowing he has your back.

Waiting can be Good Negotiating

Insurance adjusters are trained negotiators. The next time you’re bargaining at a flea market or similar, try this tactic. Negotiate to what you want to pay, and if it’s not accepted right away, leave. After a short time, make your way back and check on the item you wanted. If your offer was at least somewhat reasonable, the second time around it is often accepted.

Insurance companies want to clear these claims off their books. Waiting means things pile up for them.

All of Your Expenses Probably Aren’t Covered

As we have mentioned in the past, there are two types of damages: economic and non-economic. It’s pretty easy to see the economic ones such as damaged vehicles and medical expenses. But what about the non-economic ones; are they covered?

Even still, your medical expenses may be covered now, but what happens when the condition flares up again 10 years later?

You Have the Right to Choose

When you need to have your vehicle repaired, you have the right to choose which body shop you take it to. This is true in Texas and Oklahoma as well as most other states. The insurance company may try to steer you toward their preferred shop saying the work will be done quicker, or they can pay directly to the auto body shop. While it’s legal, you ultimately have the right to choose.

Steering you toward their preferred provider is a way to hasten the settlement. If accepted, you may end up missing out on some of the restoration you are entitled to.

Your Leverage Goes Up by Waiting

As mentioned before, waiting is a negotiation tactic. When you hold out for the compensation that you deserve, you can end up negotiating a better settlement (or your car crash lawyer can anyway).

But there may be more to it. If the insurance company starts to delay and “lose” paperwork as a way of trying to pressure you into taking a settlement, they may be acting “in bad faith.” If so your leverage goes way up; especially if you have an auto accident attorney on your side.

Accepting a Settlement Means Waiving Your Rights

Take a look at your insurance policy. It’s most likely 50+ pages long. All that legal stuff is designed to protect the insurance company; not you. The same goes for a settlement offer. The paperwork will be long, and buried somewhere inside is a clause that says if you accept the settlement, you waive our rights to pursuing further damages.

There have been cases that were re-opened, but they’re difficult and often futile. Waiting means you can be assured you don’t settle for less than you need.