 |
|
|
| |
 |
|
| |
 |
|
| |
 |
|
| |
| Dan Baldyga's Auto Insurance
Advice |
|
Your Motor
Vehicle Accident Insurance Claim--
Some Crucial "Forewarnings" and "Precautions"
By: Dan Baldyga
|
The
following insurance claim insights are about
Fred Fuddle the man who flew through a Stop Sign
to clobber you, I. M. Smart the typical adjuster
assigned to your case, his employer The Rock
Solid Insurance Company, Smarts immediate
superior in the home office, plus the lawyer you
may consider asking to take on your case. You've
successfully obtained and read a copy of my
third “How To” Insurance Claim book.AUTO
ACCIDENT PERSONAL INJURY (How To Evaluate And
Settle Your Loss) and THE BASE FORMULA advised
that your claim has a settlement value of
approximately $3,000. Once that’s been
accomplished you should consider the following:
THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS: First of all be aware that
every state has a different Statute of
Limitations. Make sure you check the law in the
state where your accident occurred, so you’ll
know how much time you have left to do battle
with Rock Solid Insurance before it’s too late
for you to confer with an attorney.
YOU SHOULD TELL ADJUSTER SMART THAT YOUR CONSIDERING
HIRING A LAWYER TO HANDLE YOUR CLAIM AND (WHEN
YOU DO) HERE ARE SEVERAL THINGS YOU HAVE GOING
FOR YOU: Smart knows that the cost to his
company will skyrocket should a lawyer get
involved. (The attorneys called in to defend
Insurance Companies are paid big bucks)! Smart
also knows it’s a sour mark on his record to
have one of his claims end up in litigation.
Plus, his insured, Fred Fuddle, won’t be doing a
jig on the bar of his favorite tavern should his
accident case end up in court.
GOING OVER THE HEAD OF I. M. SMART: Later on, down the
road, you can go over Smarts head to his
immediate supervisor. When you phone this person
have your claim number handy (long ago provided
you when Rock Sold first contacted you via snail
mail) plus all the other info regarding the
accident. At that point you‘ll be the recipient
of “The Big Stall”, but you must be patient.
You’ve got to allow that individual plenty of
time to review your file because you’re only one
of thousands he’s currently handling, many of
them much bigger than yours - - some of them
driving him crazy! He‘s “busy-busy”, and usually
whacked out, so hang in there! Be polite and
understanding, Those are the tactic’s that will
work the best for you. Never forget (it’s a fact
of their work life): Smarts Supervisor wants to
get rid of you just as much as you want to
receive a fair payment.
If you believe the adjuster assigned your case has been
stroking you, keep that to yourself. Don’t knock
him. Just ask his supervisor if there’s some way
you and he can get your case settled? Besides,
he knows his adjusters are often difficult to
deal with. That’s par for their course.
SMALL CLAIMS COURT: This is known as The ”User
Friendly” Court. Most cases are filed and
decided without an attorney getting involved.
The amount of compensation a Small Claims Court
can fork over is limited by state law, so check
that out before you do your thing. If you’re
looking for $3,000 and their limit is $5,000
it’s worth a shot. If you’re looking for $5,000
and their limit is $3,000, forget it.
MEETING WITH THE INDIVIDUAL YOU MIGHT HIRE TO BE YOUR
LAWYER: Bring along all the originals of your
documents plus (as detailed in my book) the
photographs you’ve taken of your Motor Vehicle’s
Property Damage and also those that captured the
swelling and the red, black, and blue bruises
and/or marks on your body. When you hand these
to the attorney he’ll flash the same smile he
wore on his wedding night.
At this point it’s time to slip that lawyer a dandy!
Tell you want him to waive the 33 1/3 percent
contingency fee he‘s normally paid. You say,
“Our deal will have to be that you keep a
percentage of ever dollar you get, above and
beyond , my last offer”.
When he hears that his smile will take flight! He’ll
talk fast as he attempts to convince you into
paying his, “Usual and legally acceptable, as
determined by our local Bar Association,
Contingency Fee” - - (when Rock Solid Insurance
finally comes up with a settlement) in his
effort to be paid, “Right off the top”. He’ll
huff and puff, “Hey, I know I can get more money
than they’ve offered you”.
Your response should be, “Okay, but only if you can
guarantee me that tomorrow I’ll end up with more
money in my pocket than I’d end up with today,
handling it on my own”. Give that a moment to
sink in, then add, “And, that’s a fact I’d like
in writing”. The attorney will shiver and shake
like a turkey who just spotted “The Main Man”
heading his way with an axe.
Then, while he’s figuring out how to answer, you’re in
a position to ask, “That means when you settle
my case you’ll take 33 1/3 percent of the
payment. That is, one third of my property
damage, one-third of my medical bills, one-third
of my lost wages. one-third of all my other
out-of-pocket expenses plus whatever you get for
my ’Pain and Discomfort’. Is that the deal“?
Suddenly feeling he’s on the way to nailing you down
the lawyer will smile and respond, “Of course.
That’s the time honored way of how the legal
business of recovery for a client is
traditionally conducted”.
Let that mumbo-jumbo hang out there to flop in the
breeze for awhile, then respond, “Tell you what,
forget the 33 1/3 percent. Instead, I’m going to
pay you 50 percent! That is, 50 percent of
everything you get, above and beyond, what the
adjuster has already offered me”.
If the lawyer agrees (it will be a miracle if he does)
get that in writing and let him have a go at it.
If he doesn’t, and attempts to hide behind his
usual “mumbo-jumbo-legal-beagle”
scrabbly-gobbly-gook-talk, kiss him, “Goodbye”.
Okay, after all this has come to pass, it’s back to you
and I. M. Smart, who’s already aware of the fact
you’ve been talking to a lawyer, and he’s always
concerned about that. Tell Smart you’re still
not sure if you need a lawyer or not but you’ve
not taken one on as yet. At that point you’ve
got one more trick up your sleeve. Let’s say
Smart once gave you what he identified as his
“final offer” of $2,400. Add 20 percent to that,
then try this on for size, “Look, your last
offer to me was $2,400.If you give me $2,800,
I’ll take it and we’ll call it a day”.
If the figure you throw at him isn’t unreasonable (plus
he knows you’ve been talking to an attorney and
that will surely cause him grief he‘d rather not
have to deal with) he’ll agree. Or, at the very
least (still remaining stubborn) an offer of
$2,650. (Has Dan ever done that? I sure have. So
many times I lost count).
Don’t ever fall for the typical lawyer’s pitch about
how he can get you more money. If you take the
time to figure it out you’ll discover (after he
takes his cut - - for doing little or nothing
more than you’ve already accomplished) you’re
going to be left with a lot less dollars than if
you knew how much it was worth and had settled
it yourself!
THINK THE FOLLOWING OUT - - VERY CAREFULLY!
As stated in the first paragraph of this article THE
BASE FORMULA indicated the Personal Injury
portion of your case has a top dollar value of
$3,000. Should the attorney settle your Personal
Injury case at $3,000 (plus your Property
Damage) you’re going to have to pay him 1/3 of
that, or $1,000 (and also 1/3 of your Property
Damage) rather than the $2,400 you’ve already
been offered just for your Personal Injury. If
you allow that to happen you’ll have lost
$400.00 just on the Personal Injury portion of
your settlement (because the alleged “last
offer” made to you by Smart was $2,400) by
allowing that lawyer to represent you in
addition to a third of your Property Damage
loss!
If you pitch it correctly, Smart will settle at your
last Personal Injury demand of $2,650 (as
described above) because, in his heart, he knows
your case is worth more than that. If this comes
to pass (in the vast majority of instances - -
if you continue to hammer away at Smart - - it
will!) you’ll end up with $650.00 more for your
Personal Injury than if the attorney had handled
it for you (after he took his 1/3 Contingency
Fee of $1,000.00 from the $3,000.00 - - the
figure which my BASE FORMULA has advised is the
approximate value of your Personal Injury case -
- leaving you with $2,000) even if the attorney
settled it for its top dollar value of $3,000.
Plus you'll also end up with 100% of the value
of your Property Damage.
It has always amazed me (and it still does) how (on a
case of clear liability) a lawyer can possibly
justify reaching in a scooping out 1/3 of their
clients Property Damages! It's not only unfair -
- IT'S LEGAL LARCENY!
DISCLAIMER: The
only purpose of this claim tip is to help people
understand the motor vehicle accident claim
process. Neither Dan Baldyga nor Automotive
Trends make any guarantee of any kind
whatsoever; NOR to substitute for a lawyer, an
insurance adjuster, or claims consultant, or the
like. Where such professional help is desired it
is the INDIVIDUAL’S RESPONSIBILITY to obtain
said services.
Dan Baldyga's latest book AUTO ACCIDENT PERSONAL
INJURY INSURANCE CLAIM (How To Evaluate And
Settle Your Loss) can be found on the internet
at his web site
http://www.autoaccidentclaims.com. This book
reveals "How To" successfully handle your motor
vehicle accident claim, so you won't be taken
advantage of. It also goes into detail regarding
the revolutionary BASE (The Baldyga Auto
Accident Settlement Evaluation Formula). BASE
will explain how to determine the value of the
"Pain and Suffering" you endured, because of
your personal injury.
Copyright (c) 2004 by Daniel G. Baldyga. All
Rights Reserved
|
| |
| | | | |
|
| |
|
| |