Accepting the First Settlement Offer

Answer:

We spoke with a lady the other day who was involved in a rear-end car crash, through no fault of her own. She had gone forward with making a claim with the other driver’s insurance company. The other driver’s insurance realized the severity of the case and how bad it was going to be. They tried to do what any insurance company is going to try to do—offer her a little bit of money upfront so she would close her claim.

When we spoke with her, one of her biggest questions was, “Should I just take the money and be done with it?” Unless the insurance company is willing to offer you the policy limits or the maximum amount of insurance allowable for the situation, it’s never a good idea to take the insurance company’s first offer. Traditionally, insurance companies, like any other business, want to keep their money in their pockets. They’re going to give you a lowball offer and see if you’re willing to take that lowball offer. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of injured people out there who need the money quickly, then realize later that taking that lowball offer didn’t really help them in the long run.

Here at the firm, we are experienced personal injury trial attorneys. When insurance companies try to come forward with initial, lowball offers, we never take them. We go ahead and make sure that your case is ready for trial and for a jury to see the true facts and damages. We’ll have the jury decide what the true value of your case is, rather than some lowball offer by the insurance company.

It’s never a good idea to take the first offer. If you want to know more about that, we definitely invite you to give us a call here at the firm. We’re personal injury trial attorneys and, as always, legal consultations are free. Give us a call today.