When you hurt yourself, suffer property damage or both in a New Jersey car crash, your auto insurance company may make a lowball offer early on with the hope that you might take the bait. When you accept your insurance company’s first offer, you surrender your right to seek additional money later. You may find yourself wishing you could if your injuries continue to cause you trouble down the line.
Per the National Law Review, your insurer may use several common tactics to try to reduce the amount it has to pay for your claim. Some of these strategies are as follows.
Questioning your injuries
Your insurer may question whether the injuries you sustained in the car wreck were as severe as you claim they were. Your auto insurer may also review the medical treatments you received following your injuries and question whether they were necessary. Your insurance company may also argue that you had pre-existing injuries that were the real cause of your pain, rather than injuries sustained during the car crash.
Questioning liability
Your auto insurance company may also try to argue that the other party was not responsible, or at least not solely responsible, for the wreck and the injuries you sustained in it. Your insurer may be more forceful in questioning liability once you refuse its initial offer, thinking it may make you more inclined to accept it after all.
Insurance companies, like most businesses, look to make a profit. When you accept a lowball offer, it is great for your insurance company – but it may not be so great for you.
