How to Negotiate a Higher Auto Accident Settlement

After a car accident, you need all the financial help you can get, but it’s not easy because of deceptive insurance companies trying to take advantage of you. With the right knowledge and legal team, you can negotiate a higher settlement after your car accident. 

Our car accident lawyers in Atlanta at John Foy & Associates explain how you can negotiate with the insurance company to get a higher car accident settlement. Read on to learn how to get a higher settlement and how our legal team can help you.

Hiring an Atlanta Car Accident Attorney

The first step to increasing the amount of your car accident settlement is hiring a car accident lawyer in Atlanta. If you’ve been in a car accident, hiring an experienced Atlanta car accident lawyer can significantly improve your chances of a stronger settlement with the at-fault party’s insurance company. Here are some of the key ways an attorney can help:

• Negotiating power: Attorneys are skilled negotiators who are familiar with the maximum settlement values. Our team has more leverage to negotiate a higher payout.
• Investigation experience: A thorough investigation establishes fault, gathers evidence, and values damages and injuries precisely. This provides solid support for your claim.
• Understanding insurance tactics: Lawyers understand delaying tactics and low-ball offers. We can overcome these to arrive at a fair evaluation.
• Medical know-how: Evaluating injuries and long-term implications requires medical knowledge. Atlanta car accident attorneys work with experts to project costs and prognoses accurately.
• Litigation experience: The threat of a lawsuit, which an attorney can credibly follow through on, often motivates higher settlements prior to going to court.
• Avoiding mistakes: The claims process has many pitfalls for non-lawyers. An attorney knows how to avoid any missteps that weaken negotiations.

By handling the details, an Atlanta car accident attorney frees you to heal while maximizing the settlement for your injuries, damages, and lost wages.

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How Do Lawyers at John Foy & Associates Negotiate With Insurance Companies?

Our team of Atlanta car accident lawyers is dedicated to achieving the best possible outcome for each client with compassion and respect. When negotiating claims, we leverage over 20 years of experience to represent your interests.

Treating clients with dignity and care is the top priority throughout the entire process. Our lawyers are trained to clearly explain proceedings using plain language so clients understand the strategy. We maintain open communication so no questions go unanswered.

Superior preparation and knowledge of insurance negotiation tactics allow us to overcome low settlement offers or denial of liability. Our lawyers thoroughly investigate accidents and medical evidence to build the strongest case. We will challenge insurance companies to acknowledge the costs and suffering incurred fairly.

If we aren’t able to obtain a settlement that covers all your expenses, we are ready to file suit and take cases to trial when needed to ensure full and just compensation. The threat of litigation frequently motivates high pre-trial settlements.

Beware of Common Insurance Adjuster Tactics in Negotiations

When negotiating a claim, insurance adjusters may employ certain strategies to offer a lower settlement. Even if you already have a lawyer, it’s important to be aware of these tactics that insurance adjusters use:

• Low-ball offers: Make an initial offer that is significantly lower than what the claim is actually worth to see if the policyholder will settle for less.
• Downplaying injuries: Try to minimize the severity of injuries or claim they are pre-existing to reduce the settlement value.
• Focus on deductions: Nitpick small deductions like pre-existing conditions, failure to mitigate damages, and unpaid medical bills. 
• Stall for time: Delay responding to settlement offers or requests for information to steer the policyholder toward accepting a lower initial offer.
• Leverage expiring offers: Expire initial offers after a short window to create a false sense of urgency and prevent negotiation.

Know When to File a Lawsuit to Get the Maximum Compensation

When you know when to initiate a lawsuit, you can increase your settlement amount. Here are some of the situations where your Atlanta car accident lawyer can help you file a lawsuit:

Severe Car Accident Injuries

While most car accident claims are resolved through an insurance settlement, some cases warrant pursuing legal action through a lawsuit. One sign it may be better to litigate is if the injuries are severe and long-term in nature. 

Serious injuries that require extensive ongoing medical treatment and have high costs into the future make simply accepting a settlement insufficient. Pursuing damages through a lawsuit allows for greater compensation in line with the actual harm.

Disputed Liability

Another situation where litigation may be preferable is if liability is unclear or disputed between the parties. If there is uncertainty around who was at fault for the accident, getting a ruling from a judge provides a more definitive resolution and allows for stronger recovery. The court establishes fault, which is important for fully addressing the damages.

The Liable Party’s Policy Won’t Cover Your Losses

If the at-fault driver’s insurance policy maximum payout is insufficient and does not adequately cover all of the injured party’s accident-related damages, a lawsuit provides recourse beyond just the settlement offer. This allows pursuing compensation from the defendant’s assets as needed.

Multiple At-Fault Parties

A final situation where it may be better to pursue a lawsuit is in complex accidents involving multiple parties, unknown long-term outcomes, or specialized forms of damages. Our car accident lawyer in Atlanta can carefully evaluate if a potential case merits negotiation or proceeding to trial. Litigation should only be considered if strong evidence supports significant potential recoveries above and beyond any insurance payouts.

Learn More About Negotiating a Higher Car Accident Settlement

At John Foy & Associates, our Atlanta car accident lawyers are here to help you negotiate a higher auto accident settlement after you’ve sustained injuries. We work on a contingency fee, so you don’t have to worry about paying until we win a settlement for you. 

Contact us to learn more about how we can help you recover a higher settlement.