Menu
When you hire us, we will handle all communication with your insurance and the other party’s insurance. Even if your injuries are evident and responsibility is obvious, we are prepared to haggle with insurers during post-accident compensation talks. First, we gather all essential papers and other proof to support our claim and deliver it to the insurance in the form of a written demand letter[1]. The letter describes your injuries and medical treatment, lists your lost wages and any other losses, and explain why the insured party was at blame for the accident. We never confess culpability in these letters.
Because we expect the insurance adjuster to react with a modest counteroffer, generally accompanied by a statement that our claim is missing in some manner, our initial demand letters ask for a reasonably large sum. The insurance adjuster will raise the counteroffer and the talks will continue until the two parties reach an agreement on a settlement sum or we opt to go to trial.
During settlement negotiations, disagreements frequently arise over the scope of the policy's coverage. Because the insurer was in charge of creating the policy, any ambiguities in it will almost certainly be read in your advantage.
The most common issues are: whether the insurance policy is enough to pay for injuries, the extent of the injuries, and the cause of the collision.
An insurer may also be dubious of the injuries we allege and the care you require for them. This is why you should thoroughly document what transpired after the accident and send this information to us as soon as possible. When a person has pre-existing problems that were aggravated by the event, a disagreement about injuries or treatment is more likely.
An insurer may challenge our notion of who caused the accident and argue that you contributed to it in some cases. This can have a big influence on the amount of money you get in damages.
During negotiations, there are a few things lawyers keep in mind. Before writing their initial demand letter, they make sure you examine the value of your claim. This entails calculating medical fees, missed wages, future treatment costs, and more subjective losses such as pain and suffering. They also decide on the minimal amount you will accept to settle your claim and they do not share that information with the insurer. Throughout the process, we are courteous, patient, and keeping note of what the insurance has offered.
A reserve of rights letter is very common. It just indicates that the insurer is looking into the claim but does not promise to pay you anything if the accident is found to be not covered by the policy. This is a strategy to protect an insurance company from being held liable just because the victim and the insurance company are discussing a settlement.
For victims of some types of accidents, such as those caused by uninsured or underinsured drivers, we may need to file claims with their own insurance companies. A first-party claim is what this is called. We look over your policy's particular terms and make sure we’re following any regulations it lays forth.
Disputes can develop when an insurer requests an independent medical examination (IME) from an insured. An insurer's entitlement to an IME is restricted to one examination, for which the insurer is responsible, and it should be limited to assessing the injuries for which you are seeking compensation.
Because insurers are profit-driven businesses, it is in their best interests to keep the value of a claim low. An adjuster may occasionally go too far and contravene the law or the policy's conditions.
When many parties and insurers are involved, one insurer's adjuster may inform us that the claim is being handled by another party or insurer. You have the right to sue any insurer involved until one firm makes a formal pledge to be the principal insurance carrier for the claim.
We may have a separate claim against an insurer if we feel they are behaving in bad faith. This may result in damages in addition to the accident compensation you get.
Call Us Today for a Free Initial Consultation!
The attorneys at Nooney, Roberts, Hewett & Nowicki have decades of legal experience. Let us do the fighting for you. We fight to attain the compensation you deserve. Call us at (904) 398-1992 or fill out a quick form to schedule a free initial consultation with our aggressive dram shop attorneys! ¡Hablamos español!
[1] I would hyperlink “demand letter” to Article No. 1 in this document on Page 2, “Typical Timeline of a Florida Motorcycle Accident Lawsuit.”
