What Will My Settlement Amount Be?
Your lawyer, and the firm in which your lawyer is a member, have a great deal of experience in the area of personal injury law. After evaluating the factors to determine how much your case is worth, your lawyer will discuss the case with you to arrive at a possible settlement range.
Once you have agreed on a general settlement range, your attorney will present a demand to the insurance company in the hope and expectation that the insurance company will pay a settlement within the range determined.
It is important to know that you have the ultimate decision to make, but, because of your lawyer’s experience in this area of law, you should seriously and carefully consider any recommendation he or she makes as to the ultimate value of your case.
How Lawyers And Insurers Negotiate Settlements
In almost every case, the final demand figure issued by your attorney in the first letter requesting settlement is substantially higher than the actual settlement range. This is a common negotiation tactic for personal injury cases.
Because of your attorney’s experience in this area of law, a request for settlement will usually be made in an amount that gives both parties room to negotiate. Therefore, do not consider the demand figure to be the actual settlement range of your case.
Many people believe that, because the carrier will come back with a lower figure than the demand, the attorney for the injured person should request a very high figure to begin negotiations. Such a process rarely works. If the first demand figure is way out of line, most insurance companies will not even respond to the request for settlement.
Asking for an unjustly high figure for settlement will often delay the process and sometimes inspire the insurance company to refuse to make any offer at all. Therefore, it is important that the first demand at least be reasonable. Because your lawyer is experienced in this area of law, he or she will have the best idea of what amount to request for the first demand figure.
Ask A Lawyer About Estimating Your Settlement
Contact Smith, Feddeler & Smith, P.A., to schedule an initial consultation. To reach the firm, call 800-200-7546 or send us an email today.
