What is the best way to negotiate a claim? There is. You must be ready to play hard. You are not being misled. Insurance companies are some of the best negotiators around. They are experts in the rules and know when to ignore them. They are able to and will profit from the unwary because they understand the system.
It doesn’t matter if your case involves a personal injury, a claim for health insurance, or the total value of your vehicle. To get you to settle, insurance companies will use “dirty tricks”.
The smallest amount of money possible. In the event of total loss, they may cancel your rental car before you can drive it. You can only get the money you need to buy a car if you pay your total loss immediately.
How do you negotiate a claim? Better yet, how do you win against the insurance company? It is best to write down everything you have done regarding your claim. If your insurance company contacts and informs you that the car’s value is less than $2,500, it will be best to document the details in writing.
You must tell them to write down $10,000. All statements made by the adjuster must be in writing. Insurance companies are nervous about this because they can prove that an adjuster misrepresented facts or violated the law, and can be sued for bad faith.
The insurance adjuster can be asked to contact you by mail. You can also send a letter detailing the highlights of your conversation. The adjuster can also provide written evidence.
You can write the following: You can write, for example, the following:
Ms. Adjuster: According to our conversation today, your statement that you can’t provide a rental car for has been confirmed by you.
More than three days. Please give the relevant statute. You also informed me that I had signed a policy stating that I would go to arbitration if we disagree about the settlement’s value. Please give the exact policy language, including page, paragraph, edition and any relevant definitions.
We are grateful.
Now you are binding the insurance company to its terms. You can send an insurance company a letter by sending it certified, or at the very least, delivery confirmation. If you ever need to prove you sent it, you can do so with no problem.
It is a good idea to document everything with your insurance company. This will help you avoid “changing adjusters.” When the “claim negotiation isn’t going according to plan, insurance companies and their managers are aware. They will switch adjusters for you, so you need to renegotiate.
Points that you already settled. Insurance companies will often tell you that an adjuster was away on vacation or ill and that they were unable to assign the claim due to other reasons. This is a very convenient way to get information. Take care.
A new adjuster can’t just say that Bob offered $7,000 for your car. That is clearly more than I could ever give you. I can only give you $5,500. It could be difficult to get the value back up to $7,000. If nothing is in writing, it could prove costly. If you have the letter in writing, it will be easier to show it to a lawyer or jury. They’re yours!
You can only beat an insurance company if everything is written down, including every agreement, every law, and every estimate. This is how you can ensure that the insurance company keeps their word.
