Any tips for negotiating an insurance company's damages estimate?

NOTE : I have quoted a number of articles from experts at the later part of my reply , they contain some repetitive info, read them if you have time---- The first thing you need to do when getting ready to negotiate with an insurance adjuster is to have your facts straight. Have all of your information from the accident organized and easy to get to. Having your paperwork such as the police report from the accident, pictures of the damaged cars, pictures of your injuries and medical bills and reports readily available is essential.

Possessing all of these important documents is very helpful in your negotiating strategy. Having the information in from of you allows you to be reminded of how exact things happened at the time of the accident. It also allows you to state certain dates and times specifically when on the telephone with the insurance adjuster.

Many times the insurance adjuster will request copies of the documents you are referring to. Since you have them organized and close by they are easily accessible for you to scan for emailing, fax or even make copies to send through the postal service. By having your detailed information with you as you discuss the settlement with the insurance company it shows them that you are on the ball.It also shows that you are not a person to not be taken advantage of.

Once you are past the trading of documents with the insurance company phase it should be time to do the actual negotiations. This is the time in which you put all your factual knowledge to work. You also will begin working with the insurance adjuster for your case.

When the negotiations begin the insurance adjuster will most likely try to bully you. It will not necessarily be in a mean way but instead by intimidating you. The adjuster will speak about how long they have been in the business and how many settlements they have dealt with.

They will compare your accident damages and injuries to other incidents that they have negotiated. Do not allow the adjuster to coerce you in to a low settlement amount. Your settlement should not be compared to other ones the adjuster has done.

Let him or her know that upfront. You are not there to discuss other cases but your accident and injuries and how it has affected you. You should have an idea of the amount you want to settle for.

You should have researched how much the damage to the vehicle will cost to be repaired. Make sure you are getting good replacement parts and not used or junkyard pieces. The insurance company might want you to use a certain repair shop.

Before agreeing to this check out the establishment and make sure it is someplace you want working on your car. Most of the time it will be a quality place the insurance company wants you to use but it is always best to make certain the shop has a good reputation. A second part of your settlement will be in regards to repayment for the days off of work you had to take.

The paperwork from the company you work for should have the amount you are going to ask the insurance company to reimburse. If your company paid you by using your vacation, sick or other days off you will still want the insurance company to reimburse you because you most certainly did not want to spend your vacation days recuperating from a car crash. Finally probably the biggest part of your settlement will be concerning the injuries that were caused by the accident.

You will need all of your medical records, bills and reports when negotiating the amount you will need to cover not only the current bills but any future medical expenses. It is always best to have the doctor write up something about your injuries and what further treatments you will possibly need.To cover the pain and suffering that the accident injuries caused you will also need to have an amount in mind that you will settle for. The amount that is the norm for the settlement of pain and suffering is three times the medical bills.

This is why it is so important to have all of your medical bills totaled up so that the pain and suffering amount will not be calculated too low. If you go into negotiations regarding your insurance claim with the factual documentation organized you are already ahead of the game. Do not allow the insurance adjuster to intimate you.

Stand up for what you know you deserve.In the end you should be able to negotiate with the insurance adjuster and get the settlement you are justified in receiving. ******HERE'S AN ARTICLE FROM " FREE ADVICE " -- Article 9 of 23 in Claims Information Negotiating your car accident insurance settlement After a car accident, if you have made a claim with the negligent driver’s insurance company for either property damage to your vehicle, bodily injury, or both, at some point, after providing the adjuster with all of the requested documentation, you will need to negotiate a settlement of your claim. Often, the adjuster will be the one to make the first move and offer you a settlement amount.

If you have a definite opinion on the value of your claim, however, you don’t have to wait for his or her offer. You can write a demand letter with the figure you believe your claim is worth. (See Settling Your Car Insurance Claim: How to Write a Demand Letter.) The adjuster will respond in due course with a counter-offer.

If you come to an agreement on a figure—great! It’s settled.(See The Initial Steps in Settling Your Car Insurance Claim.) Suppose, however, that the adjuster makes an offer much lower than you counted on. (See When the Adjuster’s Offer is Too Low.

) Note that adjusters have a settlement range and will typically begin at the lowest figure. Their job is to settle the claim for the least possible amount of money. You may venture into back-and-forth negotiations for a while, but no matter how long you have been negotiating, when he gets to the top of his range, there will be no further offers.(See Settling Your Car Insurance Claim: How Long Should It Take.

) What happens if you reach an impasse?(See Negotiating Your Car Insurance Settlement.) Here are some options to bring your claim closer to settlement, even if you have reached an impasse: Seek advice from an car accident lawyer to determine if the settlement amount you have in mind is a reasonable amount based on the facts and documentation. If you want to continue negotiating on your own without an attorney, write a letter to the insurance company to support the value you have placed on your claim. You may want to include any additional documentation and/or information not previously provided.

Go up the chain of command and speak to the adjuster’s supervisor or manager. Adjusters get their dollar authority to settle from their higher-ups and may not have convinced them the claim is worth more than what is being offered. Perhaps you can convince them.

Request alternative dispute resolution (mediation or arbitration). File a Complaint with your state’s Department of Insurance. Re an attorney to continue the negotiations for you; most people are not born negotiators.

If your car accident attorney reaches an impasse and is convinced your case has greater value than the insurance company is assigning it, that’s when you file a lawsuit against the negligent driver to have the court decide. Note that if you are having trouble resolving a claim with your own insurance company, for example, an uninsured motorist claim or a collision claim where your vehicle was deemed a total loss, you also have options. You may not only file a complaint with the Department of Insurance, but you may sue your insurance company for Bad Faith.(See When You Can’t Resolve a Dispute With Your Insurance Company.) Be sure to hire an attorney who is well versed in insurance bad faith cases.

Link--- http://insurance.freeadvice.com/information/auto/article/60 *****HERE'S ANOTHER ARTICLE FROM " EDMUNDS. COM "------- Tips for Filing a Claim After a Serious Car Accident By Steve Siler Email You're OK. Your kids are OK.

You have much to be thankful for. As for your car, well, there's not a lot left. The last time you saw it, it was being hoisted heavenward with two limp, deflated airbags dangling from the dashboard and broken glass littering the footwells.

The front-end sheet metal resembled a rice-paper lampshade after a cross-country move. Questions start filling your head. Will you ever see it again?

Should you start looking for a replacement? And at this point in time, is your auto insurance company a friend or foe? What if your car is rare or collectible?

The following step-by-step guide helps answer these questions and more to help you survive the scrutiny of your car insurance company after you've survived a serious accident. Step 1: Brush up on your car insurance policy, before an accident occurs. Most of us know generally what kind of car insurance coverage we have — liability, comprehensive and collision, for instance.

However, when it comes to the fine print, there are terms about which most of us have absolutely no clue (but that are sure to surface when it comes time for your insurer to shell out cash to repair or replace your damaged vehicle). So in order to make sure you are dealt a fair hand when the dust settles, sit down with your agent and learn what those big terms in the small font really mean. We advise doing this before a serious accident occurs, particularly since insurance agents tend to be far more pleasant to deal with when they're not in the middle of a messy claim.

If, however, you're reading this in the aftermath of a bad accident, it's crucial that you understand what you're entitled to moving forward. So when you're done reading this article, bite the bullet and talk to your agent about exactly what your policy covers (not just in relation to this accident, but everything else, too). And bring cookies.

Step 2: Get moving again. If you have rental car coverage, rent the best car your coverage allows and get moving again. Having a rental car will at least help keep the rest of your life from falling apart while you get this matter settled.

Depending on your coverage, you may not get as nice a rental as what you actually own, but at least you won't be stranded at home or burdening your friends and neighbors for rides while you deal with repairing or replacing your car. Talk to your agent before you rent a vehicle, because you may still be liable for collision damage to the rental car as well. Policies vary in the way they cover this, so check the language of your policy before renting a car.

Step 3: Check your state's department of insurance for a list of your rights as an insured driver. Every state regulates its car insurance companies to some degree in order to protect its citizens from being shortchanged or cheated after filing a claim. Some states are more closely involved with this process than others, so log on to your state's governmental Web site and search for its department of insurance to find more information regarding the fair settlement of insurance claims.

You will often find a bounty of helpful information that will guide you as you move forward in this arduous task. Step 4: Find out how much your car was worth before the accident. Claims adjustors from your car insurance company use a combination of dealer surveys, value guide books, online pricing sites and actual private party sales to determine your car's actual cash value (ACV).

They also factor in things like sales tax, registration and title costs of a replacement vehicle to determine this amount. Proprietary as they are, these determinants can vary from company to company and state to state. Ultimately, then, what one company comes up with may not match what another may find, or even what you'll come up with on your own, using consumer Web sites like Edmunds.com.

A bit of advice, then: don't just take their word for your car's ACV. Involve yourself in the evaluation process.Do some research on your own, because the higher your car's ACV, the bigger your check is going to be if they determine it's been totaled. In some instances, such as if you have a particularly rare trim level, color combination or special edition of a vehicle, you may know without a doubt that your car is worth more than what the insurance company tells you.

Don't be afraid to present your case and ask them to make an adjustment — if your argument is sound, companies will probably listen to you.In fact, your insurer is required by law to give you a fair price, and they won't want to fight you in court if it looks like you could win. But you may have to do the extra legwork of finding an independent appraiser and/or compiling research on your specific car to bolster your case. Step 5: Agree upon a fair evaluation of the damage.

Auto insurance companies must do a visual evaluation of the damage to your vehicle to begin estimating the cost of repairs. It helps to be there with them when they survey the damage, so that you can point out anything they may overlook. Make sure that they see all damage in order to ensure a proper settlement.

Keep in mind, however, that the more damage they see, the more likely it is that your car will be declared a "total loss. " Here's where it gets hairy, since, depending on how much you love or hate your car, the concept of total loss can be a bad or good thing. First, a definition of the term "total loss."

According to the Insurance Consumer Advocacy Network (I-CAN), a self-help Web site for consumers run by a former insurance adjustor, insurance companies define a "total loss" as: "The cost of repair plus projected supplements plus projected diminished resale value plus rental reimbursement expense exceeds the cost of buying the damaged vehicle at its preaccident value, minus the proceeds of selling the damaged vehicle for salvage. " Huh? Simply stated, if compensating you for repairing the car, renting something in the meantime and paying you what your car has lost in value costs more than what they'd shell out to just buy you a replacement and then sell your wreck to a salvage yard, you're not going to get your car back, but a check instead.

If the estimate your insurer comes up with is questionable to you, check your policy for an "Appraisal Provision" that would allow you to get an independent appraisal of the damage, which would then be reviewed by an "umpire" jointly selected by your appraiser and that of your auto insurance company. If the two appraisers can't agree on an amount of your car's ACV and damage, the umpire steps in, basically to take one side or the other to help resolve the issue. While you have to pay for your appraiser, and share the umpire's fee, it may be worth the expense if you really feel that your auto insurance company is trying to give you short shrift.

However, given the sizable expense of fixing a damaged car, compensating you for lost resale value, rental car costs and so on, it's easy to understand why insurance companies often throw up their hands long before the repair bill exceeds the car's ACV. For example, some companies consider a wrecked vehicle a total loss when the total cost to repair it exceeds just 51 percent of the vehicle's ACV. Others don't give up until the repair bill hits the 80-percent mark.

This explains how a company can send an older car to the scrap yard after a minor fender bender, then turn around and call for a very damaged late-model vehicle to undergo extensive surgery. It can be helpful to know beforehand how your company deals with this kind of thing, even though it may not change the outcome of a claim in the long run. This way, at least you're not in for a shock when they come back and tell you ol' Bessie the Buick's not coming home.

Also, be sure to ask how your auto insurance company deals with any aftermarket additions, such as custom wheels, that you may have installed on your car. Step 6: Decide if you want the car back. After a really serious accident, many people are inclined to go ahead and find a comparable replacement (or even take the opportunity to upgrade to a nicer car) rather than get their car fixed, since repairs sometimes cannot return it to its original quality.

And even if a car can be repaired to "like new" condition, it will still have lost a significant portion of its resale value simply because it has been in a major accident (you can sometimes get back some of this lost value if you file a diminished value claim). Further, a new car can also make it easier for a family to move on psychologically after a traumatic experience like a serious accident. But if your sentimental attachment to your car is so strong that you just can't imagine life without it, you can take the money and apply it to repairing her on your own, which, depending on the extent of the damage, could get quite expensive.

Furthermore, the check your insurance company cuts you will be reduced by the amount it feels it would have gotten from the salvage yard, a check that's already been reduced by your deductible, whatever that is. So if ol' Bessie is, say, a 14-year-old Le Sabre, that's going to leave you with a pretty small check. You also may have to file a salvage title with the DMV.

That said, consider this little bit of irony: a car's "total" value is almost always less than the sum of its parts — literally. Indeed, parts are what salvage yards are interested in, since they make their money by selling what's left of your car, piece by piece. If you are likewise inclined to sell it off for parts, you may actually make money.

But keep in mind that you will have to arrange for the legal dismantling, advertising and sale of those parts on your own. Not to mention the fact that the rusting, rotting carcass of your old car will be living somewhere on your property for the foreseeable future. And even if you're OK with that, consider also that dead old cars become dangerous playpens that neighborhood kids find hard to resist.

Need we say more? In any case, if you want to hold on to a car that's been considered totaled, inform your agent as early as possible in the process, since the longer you wait, the closer your car gets to being auctioned off to the highest bidder at the salvage yard. Step 7: Move on: get your car repaired or get it replaced.

Depending on how long your rental car agreement provides you with transportation, you may have to start looking for a replacement car very soon if you car has been totaled. It may behoove you to be thinking about that even before the auto insurance company has determined whether it will repair your car, or how large a check it will write you. Remember also that if your car has been totaled, your settlement must include taxes, title and license fee for a comparable replacement.

Likewise, the settlement must make clear the value of any deductions taken on account of salvage matters if you're keeping your totaled car. One final bit of advice: If your vehicle was not totaled, do not let the auto insurance company dictate which repair shop you use. They can make recommendations, sure, but definitely find out why they recommend a particular shop.

Compare their recommendations to those you get from friends and colleagues. Dealing with car insurance matters after an accident is no fun. Just keep in mind that the sooner you take care of all of this, the sooner you and your family can put this whole thing behind you.

Link--- http://www.edmunds.com/advice/insurance/articles/43771/article.html SOME ARTICLES YOU MAY LIKE TO READ---- 1. What to do after a car accident http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Insurance/InsureYourCar/WhatToDoAfterACarAccident.aspx 2. Steps To Take When You're In A Car Accident link-- ball.

It0 3. Car Accident Advice--- link-- ball. It1.

In negotiating with an auto insurance company, the following tips will be helpful for you: · Do not record a statement with either insurance company without talking to an attorney. · Before you sign anything, read it very carefully. · See a medical doctor at the beginning, the middle and the end of your car accident claim.

Find more great advice at this site: car-accident-facts.com/auto-accident-cla....

Always Always have someone in your corner speaking for you, always have a good attorney. When it comes to insurance companies they look at attorneys as the plague. When my grandfather was in a horrible accident in 1995 his brakes where faulty and he crashed into the car in front of him almost killing him and nearly injuring his wife.

S wife immediately found a attorney that she could trust to talk on her and his behest. My grandfather ended up getting money for pain and suffering until he was 90 years old. They are still paying him(his estate) till this day and he isn't even still alive.

When I've had accidents, the insurance company would usually refer me to one of their "approved" mechanics, and compensate me minus the deductible for whatever the damages. You should probably review the details of your policy and see exactly what they do to settle such damage, then at least you'll know where you stand if they give you trouble.

Play hardball and know your policy like the back of your hand. Adjusters will always lowball and try to get you to settle for less - this is their job. But there's a lot of leverage and negotiating you can do, though of course, it depends a great deal on the particulars of your situation.

Here's a good guide, with a list to other resources: insurance.freeadvice.com/information/aut... Good luck!

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.