A Comprehensive Guide: Insurance Adjusters
Negotiating with an insurance adjuster can be confusing and intimidating, especially if you have limited experience with insurance claims – after all, insurance companies don’t make money by paying out claims, so it’s in their best interest to resist your request. To receive an advantageous settlement, it’s important that you know how to negotiate with your adjuster. This guide will provide valuable tips for negotiating with insurance adjusters.
Understand the Role of an Insurance Adjuster
So let’s first lay out what an insurance adjuster does. To put it simply, an insurance adjuster is a paid professional who investigates claims and decides what a policyholder is owed by the insurance company. The adjuster works for an insurance company, whose ultimate goal is to settle your claim – while making it the least expensive possible.
Gather Comprehensive Documentation
Good negotiations start with good evidence. Begin by documenting the damages or losses in as much detail as possible. No victory will be won by moving forward blindly, so take clear photographs, have repairs estimated, and prepare any relevant medical reports. A well-prepared file will always bolster your negotiating position by demonstrating the legitimacy of your claim.
Know Your Policy Inside Out
To negotiate effectively, you need a thorough understanding of your policy, especially its terms and coverages. Review your policy (particularly your declaration page) word by word to identify coverages, exclusions, deductibles, and limits. When your adjuster discusses your claim, you can claim your rights and steer them away from bluffing you about your entitlements.
Be Prepared and Confident
Be prepared to negotiate firmly, backed by research. Learn how your case stacks up against others in the same field, against standards in the industry or among your peers. You’ll know when to compromise on a realistically modest claim, and when to negotiate for something significantly higher.
Establish Effective Communication
You must be very open and honest in your communication with the insurance adjusters and maintain a professional demeanor; if you start yelling or display any other response that displays anger or emotion, then you cannot reason with the insurance adjusters. In addition, what’s most important is that you have evidence to support your position, and you should demonstrate those points and reasons very clearly during negotiations. Still, you should not lose your patience or give up if negotiations are taking their time.
Avoid Immediate Acceptance
Adjusters may offer you amounts less than you think you could or should recover for your claim. I hear it all the time – clients accepting an initial disrespectfully low settlement offer. Slow down – review each request and compare them to your notes and your estimate of the value of your claim.
Counteroffer Strategically
In a counteroffer, be backed up with research and logic. Draw out the relevant parts of your case and extra persuasive materials, and be ready for how you landed on that counteroffer amount, through estimates, bills or other documentation.
Consider Seeking Professional Assistance
For complicated claims or disputes, hire help, including lawyers, public adjusters or even subject-matter experts – anyone who’s available to point you in the right direction and speak on your behalf in negotiations.
Document All Communication
Document each and every communication with the insurance adjuster, including email correspondence, letters, phone calls, even a trip to meet face to face. A thorough record indicates to a jury the steps you have gone through in an attempt to settle your claim, and what the adjuster actually promised.
Know When to Escalate
If mediation ends in total gridlock and you still think your claim has not been treated fairly, you can go over the head of the negotiations and plan to file a complaint with the insurer (or discover mediation and file the complaint at the same time), file a complaint and request binding arbitration, or go to court in an action of last resort.
