5 Ways Insurance Adjusters Reduce The Value Of Your Claim

5 Ways Insurance Adjusters Reduce the Value of Your Claim

Adjusters at insurance companies get paid to deny or reduce the value of your injury claim.  That’s their job.  If you get an adjuster on your injury claim who does his or her job well, your claim will likely either be denied or you will get a reduced value offer.  That’s just the way it is.  Here is a list of 5 ways insurance adjusters reduce the value of your claim:

Pre-Existing Conditions

1)  Argue pre-existing conditions and other similar problems.  Many times, adjusters will ask the accident victim to sign a release to get all of the medical records to find the pre-existing conditions.  You should NEVER sign a release for the insurance adjuster to get your medical records without first talking with an experienced personal injury lawyer.  The adjuster wants to go on a fishing expedition and will fish for any possible problem listed in your past medical records to deny or reduce the value of your claim.

Contributory Negligence and Comparative Fault

2)  Point out any problems with contributing to the accident or fault by the injured person.  In Virginia, this is called contributory negligence and can mean the loss of the case if the injured person was even slightly at fault.  West Virginia, on the other hand, is a comparative fault state.  This means that in determining how much will be paid on a claim, courts will make a determination about the percentage of fault in a case. Each party is assigned a percentage, reflecting the level of fault each had in causing the injury.  Often, an adjuster’s settlement offer is based on their determination of the percentages of fault that they attribute to each party.  This is why it’s important to have an experienced personal injury lawyer on your side who can build your case and potentially minimize the reduction of the claim’s value due to contributory negligence or comparative fault.

Criminal History and Prior Claims

3) Highlight personal flaws of the injured person such as criminal history as well as prior accidents and claims.  If you have a criminal history or have had a history of being involved in prior accidents, some insurance adjusters will use that information to reduce the value of your claim.  But, there are ways to minimize the importance of this information and focus in on what is most important . . . your accident and injuries.

Discounting Medical Bills

4)  Adjusters will frequently place less emphasis on certain medical bills.  For instance, in the early stages of medical treatment if bills are incurred quickly and early in the treatment, adjusters will often discount the value of those early bills.  Frequently, in the early stages of treatment, an injured person may undergo substantial amounts of testing.  The adjuster proceeds on the belief that the injured person has not experienced much pain and suffering during the process of getting diagnosed.

Discounting Diagnostic Tests

5)  When the injured person has no real objective or visual signs of physical injuries like broken bones, bruising, etc., many adjusters will lessen the value of expensive tests. Tests such as MRIs and CT scans are usually very expensive and insurance companies don’t like to pay full value for them.  So, when there are no real objective indications of injury, the insurance company will frequently reduce the value for these tests unless the test results reveal the injury.

Read more on this topic in our article “Common Insurance Adjuster Ploys“