In an injury claim, an insurance adjuster is an insurance agent who assesses the amount of compensation that an injured person should be paid after he or she has made a claim on an insurance policy. Understanding the role of insurance adjusters in injury claims may help you to understand the negotiation process and hopefully, prevent you from getting taken advantage of by a powerful insurance company. Educating yourself on who insurance adjusters are and how they work to resolve an injury claim may help you to understand their process and help to get you the maximum amount of compensation you may be entitled to.
Insurance adjuster titles can vary. A claims specialist, claims representative, independent claims analyst and an insurance adjuster all do the same job. No matter what this person’s title is, when you have filed a claim with an insurance company against someone who is responsible for injuring someone else, the negotiations process will likely be with him or her. Sometimes, especially when an insurance company does not have a local office in a particular area, a claim is handled by a firm of independent insurance adjusters instead of the company’s own adjuster. The negotiation process is the same with an independent insurance adjuster as it is with one from the company itself but he or she may have a lower authority limit within which to settle a case. He or she may have to have a claims supervisor at the insurance company where you made your claim approve this.
Public entities such as large cities or state governments often have their own claims adjustment offices. The negotiating process with an insurance adjuster that works for a public entity is the same as one who works for a private insurance company. In the event that your claim winds up in court, judges and juries tend to give smaller awards when the award comes from public money. Because of this, government entity adjusters tend to be less generous with settlement money than private insurance adjusters.
When someone files an injury claim even though they have not filed a lawsuit, they may wind up negotiating with a lawyer instead of an insurance adjuster. Self-insured corporations and some insurance companies without a local claims office sometimes use either their own staff lawyer or a local lawyer as a claims adjuster. Government entities sometimes have their own lawyers to deal with insurance claims.
Regardless of whether or not you are dealing with an in-house insurance adjuster or a contracted one, or a lawyer, negotiating with an insurance company can be tricky because they have vast resources they utilize to try to pay as little as possible to people who are entitled to compensation. This is one of the many reasons that people find it beneficial to have a lawyer on their side who has experience with getting their clients the compensation they are entitled to from the oftentimes difficult insurance companies.
Cohen & Cohen is available to help people who are trying to negotiate a settlement with an insurance company. Someone from our dedicated legal team is available to discuss your situation and to give you a free case evaluation. Call Cohen & Cohen any time of the day or evening to start getting the protection that you deserve.
