After a careful evaluation of your personal injury case, your Evansville personal injury attorney will discuss the likely value of your settlement with you. This determination is based on a number of factors, such as the wages you lost and will lose because of your accident, your medical bills, and your injuries’ effect on your quality of life.
An experienced Evansville personal injury attorney will be able to make a reasonable estimate of how much the insurance company will agree to pay and how much money you will likely see after the attorney’s fees and other expenses are paid for. While it ultimately will be up to you whether or not to accept this estimate, your lawyer’s expertise makes his estimation a sound one. You should consider his recommendations very carefully, even if it is less than what you would like to see.
Once you have approved this estimate, your personal injury attorney will send a demand letter to the insurance company stating what amount you and your attorney feel is a reasonable about for your claim. It is very likely that the amount demanded in this letter will be higher than what your attorney told you to expect to see. This is because the amount of a settlement inevitably goes down over the course of negotiating with the insurance companies. So while the demanded amount will be reasonable and give both parties some leeway to negotiate, you should not expect actually receive the amount stated in the demand letter.
Because of these facts, some claimants want to request a very large amount to begin with. However, such efforts inevitably meet with resistance from insurance companies and can unnecessarily slow down negotiations and delay settlement. The insurance company may refuse to even respond to such a letter.
Negotiation is a difficult and subtle process, and if you have been injured in the Evansville area you need an attorney who has restraint and tact to negotiate effectively with the insurance company. Make sure you get the settlement you deserve. Call today for a free initial consultation with experienced Evansville personal injury attorney Lane Siesky.