If you are involved in a personal injury case in Houston, figuring out the proper actions to take can become complicated and overwhelming. If you don’t know how to plead your side of the story, the case can become a nightmare; this is especially true because there is a possibility that you will end up getting way less than you are entitled to for your injuries.
The best way to get all that you deserve is to hire a Houston personal injury and refinery accident attorney. If you do choose to go it alone, however, there are some behaviors and dos and don’ts that are essential to get the most from the incident.
The reality is that only about 97% of all personal injury cases ever see a courtroom. Most are settled during the negotiation phase of the trial but be careful of what you agree to and sign. Once you accept a settlement offer and sign it, you absolve the insurance company from paying for anything else that should arise. So, that is why it is so critical to know what your case is worth before you end up leaving money on the table and walking away with way less than you should.
Don’t say anything
When you are in negotiation, the worst thing that you can do is to throw out a figure for settlement. Once you put a price on the table, an adjuster will work overtime to whittle you down. It is best to have the adjuster suggest a price first.
If you determine the price first, the adjuster knows how much you will take, and it might be far less than what they had already decided was their maximum. It is best not to put a price in your demand letter, let them do the work and work hard to decrease, instead of trying to hold the insurance from reducing the number you’ve thrown out.
Know what you will settle for before you enter into a negotiation
Before you go into the negotiation phase, know what you will and won’t accept for your injuries. Economic damages are going to be difficult to deny for the adjuster. So, likely there isn’t going to be any argument about what your economic damages are worth.
When it comes to non-economic damages, however, things can go awry pretty quickly. Since non-economic damages seek to compensate you for the experiences you had related to the accident, they are less concrete and don’t come with a set of physical documents.
It is best to understand what your injuries are worth by working with a personal injury lawyer to know how to calculate what your non-economic damages are worth. If you don’t know add up the cost on your own, then you won’t know if you are getting all that you deserve or even just the minimum you need to continue paying bills.
Your injury lawyer in Houston takes a personalized approach that is catered to your individual needs. The attorney can use either the per diem method or the multiplier method to come up with a reasonable starting point for your non-economic damages. These strategies help you to feel confident about what you are willing to accept and what is unacceptable before you even approach the table.
Start high
It is always best to ask for more than you are willing to take for a settlement. If you start at the least you will accept, then you are not going to have much room for negotiation. Estimate high and make the insurance company work to whittle you down instead of the other way around.
You have to sell yourself
During the negotiation phase, you have to strategically haggle with the insurance company. It is important to prepare by learning certain tactics like walking away, stalemating, and other forms of haggling; these strategies will work in your favor. The insurance company does not want to have to waste the resources taking your case to court so play hardball to let them know that you can’t be pushed around.
Never show your cards
No matter where you are in the negotiation phase, never reveal what your bottom line is. If you do, that is all that you are going to get and probably less. It is imperative never to let the insurance company know what you will settle for or you will end up receiving less than you deserve.
It is an excellent idea to hire a Houston personal injury lawyer to make sure that you aren’t missing out on any money. If you aren’t an expert at negotiations, you should either become one or make sure to have someone there with you who already is.
