Negotiating With Insurance Companies
One of the most valuable aspects of retaining a Portland, Oregon personal injury lawyer is their help in handling your car insurance settlement. For many, negotiating an insurance settlement is a difficult, stressful, and time-consuming process. The balance between getting the compensation you deserve and getting it in a timely manner is a difficult one to find. Regardless of where you are in negotiating for the insurance settlement for your car accident, if you are facing significant frustration, the experienced and knowledgeable Portland car accident attorneys at Dawson Law Group can help. For fast answers we have prepared car accident FAQ page to address your immediate needs.
Bryan Dawson, a personal injury attorney in Portland from Dawson Law Group who specializes in helping clients get fair restitution for car accident injuries, offers the following outline of what you can expect to do in filing your car accident claim. In many cases, retaining a car accident attorney in Portland can help expedite the insurance claim process and help accident victims secure a more favorable settlement. From helping you collect evidence, draft a demand letter, to negotiating on your behalf with the insurance company, our Portland personal injury lawyers can help you understand the whole process and make sure your best interests are protected every step of the way. If you were recently in a car accident and would like some advice about how to deal with your insurance, or if you have recently received a settlement offer and want an opinion on whether it is fair or not, call 503-919-1315 for a free consultation where someone can answer these and all your other questions today.
Keep Records and Evidence
Chronicling the damages and injuries arising from your car accident is vital to getting the settlement that you deserve. For more information on what evidence you will want to keep, please visit our Evidence Collection and Discovery Page page.
Initiate your Car Accident Claim
After your medical situation (if applicable) has stabilized and you have a good idea of the long-term health impact of the injuries you sustained in your car accident in Portland, you will need to contact your car insurance company in order to file an insurance claim.
Calculate the Settlement You Deserve
You will be sending a demand letter to your insurance company. Before you do so, you must figure out what your claim is worth. Personal injury claims for car accidents often cover the following items:
- Cost of medical care and recovery expenses
- Lost wages due to injury
- Permanent disabilities or injuries that require long term care
- Pain and suffering
- Cost of repairing property damaged in the accident
It is also valuable to decide on an acceptable range of settlements. Talking to a personal injury attorney in Portland will be really helpful here- Portland car accident attorneys have handled cases similar to yours and will be able to give you insight into what you can expect from your car insurance claim.
Send a Demand Letter to the Insurance Company
Send a demand letter to the insurance company after you calculate what you think your claim is worth. In the demand letter, describe the accident, your injuries and damages, your medical treatment, any long term health issues stemming from the accident, your vehicle’s damage, and any other losses, damages, or injuries relating to your car accident. Tell the insurance company how large of a settlement you demand due to the circumstances. The insurance company will likely reply with a lower amount than what you’re asking for, so in many cases you should demand 30-100% more than what you are willing to settle for. A personal injury attorney can help you draft a demand letter, and in many cases, retaining an attorney shows the insurance company you mean business. Learn more about The Math Behind Hiring a Lawyer.
Don’t Immediately Accept the First Offer
In many cases, an insurance adjuster’s first offer will be significantly lower than what the insurance company is willing to settle for. Talk to a car attorney before you consider accepting the insurance company’s first offer. In many cases, clients have come to Dawson Law Group to have us evaluate their insurance company’s first offer only to realize that it is much smaller than what accident victims with similar injuries were able to secure.
Call Dawson Law Group for a Free and Confidential Consultation or Case Evaluation
Regardless of where you are in the insurance settlement process, if you haven’t talked to a personal injury attorney in Portland yet, it may be in your best interest to do so soon. We urge you to give Dawson Law Group a call today for a phone consultation where we can answer your questions and help point you in the right direction. This process may seem long and confusing for you, but it is where we excel. We have extensive experience on both sides of personal injury claims. We’ve worked with car insurance companies and car accident victims alike, which has given us a complete understanding of the process. Let us use our experience to answer your questions. Call today at 503-919-1315.