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After someone has filed a claim with an insurance company, the adjuster contacts that same claimant. Eventually, those two parties’ initiate negotiations. If the negotiations end quickly, the claimant receives some money, but that amount of money might not serve as evidence of a fair settlement.
Issues that might extend the length of the negotiations
Legal questions: What was the full extent of the injury? The answer could come from a doctor’s testimony.
The insurance company might claim that the victim/claimant was partly responsible for the accident. In that case, the adjuster might not agree to alter the company’s allegations unless or until the claimant’s lawyer has filed a lawsuit.
The victim/claimant might have had a pre-existing condition, and the insurance might have claimed that anyone with such a medical history should have used a protective device. The claimant has demanded a large sum of money as compensation. In that case, the insurance company might take one or more of the following actions.
It could study the case more, in order to determine the company’s chances for winning, if the dispute had to be resolved in a courtroom. It could seek more information on the reported injuries, in an effort to determine their severity.
It could check into the credibility of the claimant/plaintiff. Insurance companies keep a database of earlier claims, giving the name of the person that filed the claim.
The claimant had not yet reached the point of maximum medical improvement. Until the treating physician has told the patient/claimant that he or she has improved to the maximum extent possible, there should be no settlement. That is due to the approach taken by the insurance company, following a settlement.
At that point, it asks for the person receiving the agreed amount of money to sign a release form. Once the claimant’s signature has appeared on that release form, the insurance company cannot be held responsible for the costs of any further medical treatments.
Another way that a quick settlement might be unfair
Personal Injury Lawyer in Hamilton knows that depending on the nature of the injury and the prescribed treatment, the doctor might not be able to predict the degree to which the later complications might disrupt the career of the person that filed the personal injury claim.
For example, it could be that the victim/claimant received some type of surgical treatment, one that surgeons had only recently started performing. In that case, the doctors could not predict the likelihood of an infection, in the region of the surgical scar. Each such infection would introduce the need for more surgery. The prospect of possible surgeries in the future would mean time off from a job. That could pose a problem for someone in the workforce.