Your life may seem as if it will never be back to normal again after a car accident. The stress and discomfort of having to deal with the effects of a wreck on your life can be particularly difficult when the wreck was another drivers' fault. To really get your life back to normal you may need to take action to get compensated. When the time comes to hammer out a settlement, you and your personal injury attorney will be working in tandem to negotiate the best possible offer. Read on to find out more.
When do the negotiations begin?
Before you engage in negotiation, there must be an offer on the table, and that offer has to come from the at-fault driver's insurance carrier. The carrier will do some investigating to evaluate the situation and form an idea of what to offer. Additionally, your attorney will be providing the other side with a summary of your demands. The demand letter starts the ball rolling and puts the other side on notice that you may not be willing to simply accept what the carrier initially offers.
Know what your case is worth
Your attorney has likely already done the math and may have known what your case was worth from your first meeting. After all, with a contingency fee agreement the attorney's pay is based on a successful and plentiful settlement. Your attorney will probably be using a mathematical calculation that is similar to the one the insurance company uses. This will allow you both to have a general idea of what to ask for and expect.
A word about your medical expenses
In all likelihood, the other guy's insurance has been picking up the bill for all related medical expenses. The total dollar amount of those expenses are used to determine a key element of your damage claim: pain and suffering. The higher the amount of your medical treatments the more you are entitled to get for pain and suffering.
Negotiating tips
1. You might be disappointed by the first offer; it will probably be too low. Just know that they are trying to gauge your desperation with this low-ball offer.
2. Your attorney will counter with an offer that is slightly higher than your agreed-upon bottom-line amount, and this back-and-forth will go on for some time.
3. If the talks stall out and the other side is not budging, there may be a good reason. For example, if there is a possibility that you had some part in the fault for the accident, it will reduce your compensation
4. Not everything can be resolved in an hour; expect some stopping and starting again of talks. You and your preferred personal injury law firm may want to come to an agreement about when you will take them to court to get what you deserve.
