Insurance Company Tactics are Designed to Deny Your Rightful Compensation

Insurance companies are tough negotiators, even for an accomplished san antonio car accident attorney! And they take up a lot of your time without an experienced attorney on your side. Insurance companies jealously guard their own interests and their money. They’re about what they collect; not what they pay – which is as little as absolutely necessary. If you’ve been seriously injured, their interests collide with yours. They’ll use adjusters to try to find ways to deny your claims. These adjusters may call you repeatedly, and ask innocent-sounding questions about your accident. Their inquiries may seem harmless and for your benefit. But they’re usually calculated to induce you to say something that is later used against you to deny your claim. Whatever you say to them will probably be recorded. And you must be on constant guard, or your words could come back to haunt you as an excuse for their denial of your claim.

Our clients quickly learn from us the best way to deal with insurance adjusters: and that’s just don’t deal with them at all. Adjusters don’t call our clients but rather us. And when adjusters can’t talk to our clients, they don’t have a chance to twist their words around to use against them.

Often, especially if they know you have a good case, an insurance company pressures and even harasses you to settle for an amount that is much less than what you’re asking: often much less. Now a fair settlement offer is excellent; if it truly benefits an accident victim. But accepting an unfair settlement offer can devastate your legal rights. You forever waive your right to sue the defendant when you accept an offer. The settlement on the table is all you will ever collect from that defendant (and his insurance company). So it’s important to not accept an offer unless it’s truly fair. And the only way to determine a fair settlement from an insurance company that wants to victimize you is with the assistance of an experienced car accident attorney.

Insurance companies know that most accident victims are everyday people who, as a result of this accident, are usually strapped for cash. They have hefty medical and auto repair bills that need to be paid on time, or there goes their credit report. And perhaps they are unable to work as a result of their injuries so their reduced income is used for monthly expenses, which means there’s little if any, leftover to pay accident-related costs. So an insurance company’s apparent strategy is to entice accident victims with small amounts of fast cash that might get them back to even. But what if that’s not the end of your expenses? Insurance companies are banking on you not figuring that out until they’re long gone and off the hook. Don’t let the defendant in your case (and his insurer) get away with paying you less than you deserve.

Here are a few more insurance company tricks they would never try to pull on our clients.

They offer you a settlement before the full extent of the medical treatment you’ll need is known.
They offer you less property damage money than what’s due on your car loan.
The insurance company doesn’t offer you a rental car while your vehicle is in the shop being repaired.
The insurance company tells you they’ll pay your claim when you submit your bills but then refuse either to do so or keep stalling you when you ask for payment. (by the way, we never submit original bills to an insurance company, only copies)
The insurance company takes too long to respond to your inquiries (this could mean that they’re investigating your claim behind your back or just “shining you on” until they tell you they’re not going to pay your claim).
The insurance company (usually the adjuster) tells you the settlement figure that is offered is “all that you’re entitled to” or “the best you’re going to get”.

Can you think of another reason why you shouldn’t call an experienced Texas auto accident lawyer to shield you from insurance companies and fight for your fair compensation rights?

Put our years of experience to work for you. If you want to know your rights, how to proceed with your claim, and how much compensation you can secure from your auto accident case, call our Law Firm now for a free consultation and find out how we can help you.

This Blog was posted By The Carabin & Shaw Law Firm. principle Office in San Antonio, Texas

What to Do After a Texas Car Accident

At our Law Group, one of our goals is to educate car accident victims so they can make informed decisions. Those decisions include understanding what you should do after a car accident.

For a free confidential consultation to discuss your car accident claim with an experienced personal injury lawyer, please call our office toll-free.

Seven Steps You Should Take After a Car Accident

Whether you are a resident, visitor, tourist, or are just passing through on your way to another destination if you are involved in a car accident, we recommend the following:

Step 1: The first thing you should do is call 911 to get the necessary police and emergency medical professionals on the scene. More here @ https://www.accident-lawyers-dallas.com/car-accident-attorneys

Step 2: Do NOT discuss your accident with anyone other than the police until you retain legal counsel.

Step 3: Do NOT discuss your case with an insurance company or claims adjuster without talking to your lawyer or before retaining an experienced personal injury attorney. Insurance companies are not your friends. They make money by paying as little as possible for claims or denying coverage whenever possible.

Step 4: Take pictures of the vehicles and the accident scene (use a phone camera, if you have one) and get the names and contact information of any witnesses. Also, make sure you get the insurance information from the other person involved in the car accident.

Step 5: Pay attention to the police investigation. Get the name of the investigating officer, which police department he or she belongs to, and their badge number if possible. Make sure you receive a copy of the police report at some point during the process.

Step 6: Retain an experienced personal injury lawyer to represent you. The earlier you get us involved in the claim, the better your chances of obtaining maximum compensation.

Step 7: Keep a detailed journal (a spiral notebook works well for this) that outlines doctor visits, necessary medications or therapies, and how you feel. Also keep track of medical expenses you are paying out including over-the-counter medications, prescriptions, medical devices (like crutches, canes, or braces), and retain receipts if possible.

For a free confidential consultation to discuss your car accident claim with an experienced personal injury lawyer, please call us toll-free. You are also welcome to fill out our intake form and we will contact you promptly.

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How do I prove lost wages in my personal injury case?

If you are injured by another person’s negligence, a component of your damages is lost wages. There can be lost wages in the past and the future. There also may be a loss of earning capacity resulting from serious injuries which I will explain in another blog another day. Proving a specific amount of lost wages can be easy or difficult depending on where you have worked before the accident that caused your injuries. If you were a full-time employee for a legitimate company, the process is straightforward. If you were self-employed, proving lost wages can be more difficult.

For lost wages in the past, your payroll records are requested for a certain period of time prior to the accident using an authorization signed by you the employee. This assumes you were a regular employee. A letter from a supervisor or from the Human Resources department setting forth your job title, description, gross income amount per month or week, hours worked per week, and hours missed because of the accident is very helpful when attempting to settle a negligence case without litigation. If litigation becomes necessary, the employer records must be requested in a certain format from the custodian of records making them admissible as evidence in court. If the employment records reflect a steady normal income for a reasonable period of time prior to the accident, then that will become the standard to use in calculating past lost wages. Keep in mind that there is a difference between work missed because of a doctor’s order or because you did not feel well enough to go to work. When you are attempting to negotiate a settlement without litigation, the insurance adjuster will likely discount any time missed from work without a verified doctor’s order. If after your medical treatments, you return to work earning the same amount of money as before the accident, then your past lost wage claim is easy to prove. This assumes you also have returned to work performing the same duties as before without restrictions.

If the accident caused severe enough injuries, you may suffer future lost wages. For example, you may have undergone a certain type of surgery and the doctor believes it will be 6 months before you can return to work in a normal capacity. If you are trying to settle your case without litigation, then earnings lost for the next 6 months would be considered future lost wages. If you are a regular employee, the 6-month calculation is straightforward. Depending on the type of injuries sustained, there may be many reasons or explanations to support a future lost wage claim.

If you are self-employed or a contract employee, you will need to gather your federal income tax returns for the past couple of years. If you do not have these, you can get them directly from the IRS. You are not required to produce the entire returns which would violate your right to privacy. You would simply produce the first page of each 1040 form or other forms that reflect your gross income. You will also need to produce a financial statement for the current year that reflects current income. Either you or your accountant may prepare such a statement. This will be used to calculate the loss of income for the current year. The combination of the financial statement and prior year earnings can be used to calculate any future lost wages or income.

Keep in mind that the recovery of lost wages is taxable. Therefore, if you receive any reimbursement specifically for lost wages you must report this income to IRS on your tax return for the year in which the claim was paid. If the recovery is a substantial amount, you should seek advice from a CPA or a qualified tax consultant with regard to the reporting of this income.