An Example of How Insurance Adjusters Convince Accident Victims to Settle For Small Amounts of Money
An Example of How Insurance Adjusters Convince Accident Victims to Settle For Small Amounts of Money
It's Happy Days when a personal injury insurance adjuster for Orange County is able to tell his or her supervisor that they have managed to convince an accident victim in California cities such as Laguna Beach, Corona del Mar, or Newport Beach not to hire an attorney. I imagine the conversation goes something like this.
"Did you convince the person not to hire a suit?" the supervisor asks.
"You betcha, boss," the adjuster said.
"Which routine did you use this time?" the supervisor asks.
"You know, the one I like the most is where I tell them how fair we can be and how there's just no need for them to hire an attorney."
The supervisor nods. "So now you'll ignore them until the statute of limitations is about up and they panic to settle for anything."
"You got it, boss," the adjuster says.
"What will you do if they threaten to hire an attorney?" the supervisor asks.
"Then I'll pretend like we're busy getting the medical records and if they will just be patient, we'll ensure that all their bills are handled and still put $500 in their pocket," the adjuster says.
"I don't suppose the company will actually pay all the medical bills, will we?" the supervisor asks.
"I'm sure our medical department will pay what they think is reasonable and if the doctors refuse to accept what we send, that will just add more pressure on the accident victim to settle with us."
"So you're not actually promising the clients we'll pay all their bills?" the supervisor asks.
"Heck no," the adjuster says. "I just tell them to is send in their medical bills and we'll take a look at them to determine what's related to their accident. I also tell them how doctors love to charge more than what's reasonable and that by having us deal with them, that's how we're able to keep insurance rates so low."
"So low?" the supervisor asks, laughing. "That's a good one."
"What do you tell them when they ask you for pain and suffering?" the supervisor asks.
"The usual. I tell them that they're not entitled to pain and suffering for an ambulance ride, or those big hospital charges, or for X-rays or other diagnostic testing, for chiropractic bills that are inflated or for, well, just about anything."
"That's good, that's very good."
"So you have an excuse for everything," the supervisor says.
"Absolutely, boss," the adjuster says. "And since they're not a lawyer, and since they've never heard this before, well, you know what most people do when times are tough."
