After all, an attorney is going to want to be paid, and that means less money for you. So what could the harm be in talking with the insurance company first by yourself? Just to see what the insurance company might offer. Tell the claims adjuster your side and if the settlement offer isn't good enough, then go to an attorney.
There are serious problems with this. Let me quickly run down a few of them.
The longer you wait to find an attorney, the more difficulty the attorney will have in finding witnesses, collecting evidence, getting helpful statements from witnesses (they simply forget -- what happened was not nearly as important to them as to you), preparing the case for trial, and negotiating a settlement without filing suit and forcing you to bear those expenses. All of this means that the longer you wait, the more reluctant attorneys may be to take your case. If you wait so long that the statute of limitations is close to running out, many attorneys will refuse to represent you. How close is close? It depends on the case and the attorney's case load -- some attorneys will refuse to take cases if the statute of limitations is still a couple of months away.
Each time you talk with the claims adjuster yourself, the claims adjuster becomes more likely to believe that you are simply not very bright, or are desperate or greedy for money and afraid to possibly "share" anything with an attorney. The stronger that impression becomes, the more convinced the claims adjuster will be that he or she does not need to offer what your claim is actually worth.
Each time you speak with someone from the insurance company, they could be recording your what you say, or taking detailed notes on it. Anything you say to them about the accident or your injuries could come back to haunt you later. Claims adjusters know what is needed to hurt your case, and they will try to get that. If an attorney is talking to the claims adjuster this can't happen, because even if the claims adjuster is recording it, nothing your attorney says can be used against you to hurt your case. One wrong comment from you and you could make it impossible to win the case if it has to go to court.
Depending on who the defendant is, it may be required that you formally make your claim very quickly -- if you delay your might lose your chance to get a hearing on your claim, and if the other side does not face the prospect of being forced to pay, they are not likely to pay anything at all. A claims adjuster may intentionally string you along just enough to make it impossible for you to recover anything for your injury.
It's important that you get the right medical treatment and keep the right records regarding your injury and how it effects you during the period right after you are injured. Every day of delay hurts.
You have no basis on which to judge whether an offer the claims adjuster makes is good or bad... and even if you are not out to "get as much as you can" and are simply seeking a settlement that is fair, you still need an attorney to address issues like the language of the release the insurance company will want you to sign, and subrogation of claims your insurance company will make for the medical bills they paid for your care. (For instance, if the insurance company offers you $10,000 and you think that sounds adequate... what if your insurance company is going to take every cent of that to pay it back for the medical bills it paid for you as a result of the injury? Is it still fair -- you will end up with nothing.)
If you simply want to very quickly see what the other side will offer, get an attorney and have the representation agreement cover this -- so the attorney will get a smaller amount if it is settled right away. But you still want an attorney handling things for you.
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