Last Updated on March 9, 2024 by Jawad Ali
When you get into a personal injury accident in New Jersey, seeking compensation for your injuries and damages can be tricky. A lot of legalities go into getting financial compensation, such as proving fault, proving injuries and damages, etc. However, when you are going to speak to the insurance company about your accident, there will be two possibilities.
One –the insurance company will refuse to pay the settlement. Second —the insurance company will provide a settlement offer. In both cases, rushing toward making a decision can harm your claim. Therefore, an invasion of a personal injury lawyer in New Jersey to handle your claim is crucial.
Should you accept the insurance company’s offer right away?
The first settlement offer can be tempting. Besides, many victims believe that the compensation that the insurance company is offering is the final amount they would be getting. In case they deny taking that offer, their chances of getting financial compensation will be gone.
However, this is far from the truth. The insurance company cannot force you to accept their offer. When you receive the offer letter from the company, the first thing you need to do is carefully review each and every single written in the offer letter. Remember, the insurance company is smarter and knows how to take advantage of a situation. If possible, they would not spare a chance to lower the compensation amount.
Therefore, you should not accept the insurance company’s settlement offer right away.
The next step is to speak to your lawyer about it.
Let your lawyer take the time to go through the offer letter. Your lawyer will check the damages and injuries you have sustained. The demand letter will contain all the necessary information that your attorney might need. Once they verify the offer letter with the demand letter, they will inform you if the settlement offered is fair.
In many cases, the insurance company does not directly pay what you ask in the demand letter. The chances of this scenario happening are rare. The company will drop a settlement request stating their reasons and policy.
If you think the settlement is unfair, you have all the right to present a counter offer to the insurance company. However, here is an important thing to remember. When you are giving a counter offer, you also need to back up the amount with evidence. Asking for compensation when you have lack of proof to claim it can do more harm than good.
