Insurance adjusters assemble a large collection of facts, after completing their investigation of a given claimant’s case. Some facts get studied for a larger amount of time, during a study of a claimant’s case. The most thoroughly-examined facts are the ones that have the biggest effect on the final settlement.
What questions do adjusters ask when investigating a given case?
• How many of the medical expenses reflect the costs of a treatment?
• How many reflect the cost of a diagnostic procedure?
• How much money did the claimant have to spend on medication?
• What was the length of this accident victim’s recovery?
• Did this victim suffer any permanent medical problem, such as a scar or a loss of mobility?
• Did the victim experience any level of emotional distress?
• Has the victim’s daily life been interrupted in any way? Is it necessary for someone to feed the insured claimant? Must someone bathe that same claimant?
Have the injuries forced the victim/claimant to forego the enjoyment of certain opportunities? Were the victim’s plans for attending a special conference cancelled? Were plans for starting an educational program postponed?
What other factors/elements could affect a negotiated settlement?
Is there any evidence of shared fault? Did some action by the claimant aggravate the accident-caused injury? Did some action help to cause the accident? Did the plaintiff delay pursuit of medical attention?
Does the plaintiff appear credible? Are plaintiff’s statements consistent? Do those statements agree with the statements of the witnesses? Does a medical expert support the claims made by the plaintiff, regarding a particular injury?
Did the Personal Injury Lawyer in Mississauga fail to locate a suitable medical expert? That would provide the insurance company with a chance to make unfounded allegations, possibly allegations that related to the plaintiff’s medical condition. That could prove a problem, if the victim/plaintiff had a preexisting medical condition.
Has the plaintiff made a personal injury claim, in the past? If so, how often? Has an investigation of the plaintiff’s visits to social media networks revealed a strong interest in the size of the anticipated settlement? Such a revelation would place a cloud over the plaintiff’s credibility.
The length of negotiations can affect the settlement’s size. An insurance company welcomes the chance to shorten the length of the negotiations. That prevents emergence of a new symptom, before the 2 sides have settled.
Did the claimant/victim work with the police, in an effort to find useful evidence? That can serve as a decidedly influential factor in certain cases, such as those times when a driver disappears from the scene of a collision.
What sort of resources does the defendant have? A large settlement could prove of slight value, if the defendant has limited resources.
