Nobody likes to feel like a number. It feels even worse when you are suffering from an injury.
Unfortunately, that is often how insurance companies might make you feel. It might not be until after you sign their offer, but make no mistake — your settlement is a business concern to an insurer. For them, it is not a matter of life or death like it is for you.
The way the insurance industry works
Insurance is a complex industry. Liability insurance, specifically, theoretically covers injuries you sustain because of someone else’s negligence. In a perfect world, insurers would follow the spirit of these policies.
Unfortunately, this is not a perfect world. Insurers often have internal rules to deny payment in the absence of specific evidence.
They also might offer lower payments in the hope that you sign off your rights to full compensation. This might be an effective tactic if you have a severe injury and medical bills start piling up.
Those medical bills might not be as scary as you think
As you probably know, the cost of healthcare tends to be extremely high. Even a minor injury could be expensive, but visits to the emergency room, advanced imaging, hospital stays and surgeries are all staggeringly costly.
That big number is not the whole picture, though. Your medical bills are a relatively unique type of debt. Specifically, they do not often charge interest. There are also often ways to negotiate with healthcare providers regarding the terms of your repayment.
You are more than a number. That is something that the courts willingly recognize even if an insurer is reluctant to do so. Even if an insurance company tries to reject your claim or sweet-talk you into accepting a lowball offer, you might have more options than you realize.