What Happens When You Reject an Insurance Settlement Offer?

Many people think that rejecting an insurance settlement offer ends their personal injury claim. However, in many cases, it is just the beginning and allows you to seek fair compensation for your losses. Understanding how the process works and your next steps is crucial to navigating your way through it.

Common Reasons for Low Settlement Offers

Keep in mind that insurance companies don’t want to offer you fair compensation. Their entire goal is to minimize as many payouts as possible to improve their profitability. Insurance adjusters work for insurance companies and are trained at using various methods to deny or minimize claims, such as by:

• Making quick offers: Sometimes, insurance adjusters offer a fast settlement, but this is rarely in a fair amount. They hope that claimants will accept the amount before understanding the true value of their claim or hire a personal injury attorney.
• Requesting recorded statements: Insurance adjusters may claim that they need a recorded statement, but this tactic is usually used so that they can obtain information from you that they can use against you.
• Blaming pre-existing conditions: Insurance adjusters may ask that you sign medical release forms so that they can go back years to find some old injury or condition to blame your current injuries on.
• Misrepresenting policy terms or limits: Insurance adjusters may cite language that doesn’t exist in the policy, mention policy exclusions, or misrepresent the maximum coverage available under the policy, all in hopes of minimizing payouts.
• Using delay tactics: Insurance adjusters may intentionally delay personal injury claims so that the claimant buckles under financial pressure into accepting a lower settlement than their claim warrants.

An experienced San Antonio injury lawyer can help you navigate the claims process and offer legal guidance throughout it so that you can protect your right to maximum recovery.

Legal Options Following the Rejection of a Settlement Offer

After you reject a settlement offer, you may have several legal avenues you can pursue, including:

Building Your Claim Further

Rejecting a bad offer gives you the opportunity to build a more solid personal injury claim that justifies a higher amount of compensation. This could include:

• Creating a clear liability argument as to why the insured’s driver is responsible for your damages
• Collecting solid evidence, such as police reports, witness statements, photos and videos of the accident, medical records, and expert witness opinions
• Comprehensively documenting your damages, giving you a strategic advantage to demand full and fair compensation

Continuing Negotiations

Just because you rejected an offer does not mean that you can’t keep negotiating for a higher amount.

Making a Counteroffer

Your personal injury attorney can present a counteroffer that is more in line with what you believe your claim is actually worth. The insurance company could then respond to this offer by accepting it, rejecting it, or making its own counteroffer.

Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit

Your personal injury attorney can end the immediate back and forth by filing a lawsuit against the at-fault party. This initiates the formal legal process and transfers the case from an insurance adjuster to the legal department, which might provide additional opportunities for pre-trial settlements.

Contact a San Antonio Personal Injury Attorney for Legal Assistance

If you were injured in an accident in San Antonio caused by someone else’s negligence, you should be fairly compensated for the damages that you suffered. An experienced attorney from The Aguirre Law Firm can demand the compensation that you deserve. We won’t back down from a fight. Contact us today to get started with your free case review.