Trusted Counsel from Founding Partner, Stephen Berlin
“Let’s start by saying… workers’ compensation insurance companies WANT TO SETTLE YOUR CASE!”
Insurance companies want to settle your case for 2 main reasons… Both personal and financial.
On a personal level, insurance adjusters typically have in excess of 200 cases. As such, if they can settle one of their cases, that is fewer reports that they need to draft, fewer medical appointments that need to be set, and less legal expense.
On a financial level, insurance companies want to settle cases based on the concepts of RESERVES and SALVAGE.
This means that any time a workers’ compensation claim is opened, the adjuster has to anticipate the full value of that claim from onset until the date that the claim is closed.
The amount that the adjuster values your claim at has to be specifically set aside in a separate account earmarked to the individual injured worker and that money cannot be touched for any purpose… Meaning the insurance company cannot use that money for investment or even collect interest on that money.
As such, the insurance company has a great incentive to get those claims closed so that they can pull the excess money not used for settlement out, which is called salvage.
That being said, insurance adjusters have every incentive to settle your claim.
Now, what is the value of your case?
The value of your case depends on numerous factors. Most people would think that the main driver of increased settlement amounts is higher medical exposure. That is certainly one of the main factors, as it drives what the adjuster has to place in reserves on your case.
However, almost equally as important is the amount of risk, uncertainty, and potential expense that the adjuster anticipates will occur on your case.
“From personal experience working in-house with one of the largest workers’ compensation insurance companies in the state for over 17 years, I can tell you that one of the biggest factors that increases the value of your case is legal representation.“
– Founder, Stephen Berlin, Esq.
Discuss Your Work Injury Claim for Free
Learn the types of compensation you may be eligible for and have your questions answered. Call today.
Injured Workers Who Retain Lawyers Settle for More
Typically, based on my experience, insurance companies will spend 3-5 times more on claims where the injured worker has hired an attorney. The reason for this is that when you hire an attorney, that instantly increases the value of your case because the insurance company has to hire an attorney to represent its interests.
An experienced workers’ compensation attorney knows how to increase exposure to the insurance company by finding areas where insurance adjusters have underpaid benefits, have miscalculated the amount of benefits which you are owed, or have inappropriately failed to pay you benefits either in a specific time frame or failed to pay penalties and interest on delinquent payments.
These things add great value to your case because INSURANCE ADJUSTERS DO NOT LIKE TO BE FOUND HAVING MADE A MISTAKE ON YOUR CLAIM. Almost every time we find areas where the adjuster has underpaid benefits, the immediate response from the adjuster is, “Let’s just get this case settled. How much does your client want?”
The reason they do this is that they do not want their mistake exposed to their supervisor. As such, if there is any way to settle the case, especially considering the fact that it is another closed file, they will always take that route!
If you want to maximize the settlement of your case, it is essential that you have an attorney working with you.
We would be happy to provide you with a risk-free consultation/assessment of the potential value of your case, which we would be happy to perform after receipt of medical records and pay records from the insurance company.
In almost every instance, we can then make an appropriate assessment and strategy to maximize the value of your case and then get you the absolute best settlement.
Discuss Your Work Injury Claim for Free
Learn the types of compensation you may be eligible for and have your questions answered. Call today.
