Motor vehicle collisions can produce some of the most disabling injuries possible. They cause spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, broken bones that require surgery and even amputations.
When you or a member of your immediate family suffers a severe injury in a crash, you expect the insurance policy of the driver who caused the crash to cover your medical costs.
Sadly, some individuals will face an uphill battle when it comes to getting the benefits they need. For example, your insurance company might offer you an inappropriately low settlement amount, leaving them with costs or a long delay before the company pays the claim.
How do you determine if a settlement is appropriate?
Placing a value on an injury can be difficult, especially if you don’t yet know how long it will affect you. Any settlement offer you receive that is less than the maximum coverage amount for a policy should clearly cover not only your current expenses but also your likely future costs.
A settlement that won’t even cover all of your current losses will likely fall woefully short of protecting you from the lifelong consequences of your injury.
How you respond will depend on your situation
Some individuals offered an unfairly low settlement amount can counter that initial offer with a more reasonable amount based on their medical bills and other records. Negotiating with the insurance company can sometimes yield positive results when they don’t offer enough compensation initially.
For those who may have made a mistake by accepting a settlement that is far lower than what is necessary, they may have an option of bringing a bad faith insurance claim against the company involved.
If you can show that the insurance company intentionally paid you far less than they should have given the extent of your injuries and that the settlement offer was not reasonable, you may be in a position to take legal action and hold them responsible for not compensating you the way that they should have.