Effective Approaches for
Settling Cases
Insurance Settlements (previously known as Insurance Settlement Handbook) opens
long-locked doors to insurance claims departments, giving you an insider’s
look at the settlement process. Discover in days what most plaintiff’s
attorneys take years to learn. Veteran claims personnel reveal how to:
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Demonstrate to the adjuster that you know
what you are doing
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Determine when and what to say for maximum
impact
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Help the adjuster sell your client’s damages
to his superiors
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Draft effective demand letters
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Evaluate soft tissue injuries
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Prove pain and suffering
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Break cases free from common logjams
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Get realistic offers from adjusters
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Counter common insurance settlement tactics
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Value cases using traditional insurance
company techniques
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Obtain top dollar
Insider tips from seasoned
adjusters, claims managers, and top plaintiff's attorneys are loaded into
this two-volume book. Just a few of the effective approaches for
settling include:
Damages
“Adjusters will pay an extra $500 to $1000 for pain and suffering for every
day spent in a hospital (excluding diagnostic time). Most attorneys fail to
request this sum.”
Valuation
“During case evaluation, most insurance carriers will first calculate their
exposure at what they call ‘dripping wet,’ without other considerations like
prior injuries, comparative negligence, contribution by other defendants,
amount of insurance available, etc. This formula is expressed as follows…”
Investigation
“Policy limits demands which are designed to determine the policy limit
amounts are frequently counter-productive. Seldom will the demand result in
divulgence of the policy limits. A more productive approach is to simply…”
Negotiations
“The supervisor and adjuster will not be moved because you think this
claim is ‘different’ or you are ‘going to file a complaint.’ You will either
have to bring your demand within the norm or justify more.
Bad Faith
“Often defense counsel will refuse to produce certain documents in the
claim file, or other company documents. Insist the defendant provide an
itemized list of each document and form in the file, along with sufficient
descriptions of each document. You will need this information to support a
motion to compel production of the documents.”
Coverage Disputes
“Coverage questions involving only the policy issued by the carrier
involved are often troublesome to the plaintiff because the plaintiff will
never be notified of the coverage dispute. The plaintiff’s notice will
probably be by inference, when no settlement offers are forthcoming.”
Settlement Authority
“The bigger the exposure, the more levels through which the files must
pass. At each level, the person reviewing the file will be judged in part by
the quality of the file that is allowed to move upward.”
Evaluation
“In reality, frequently no evaluation at all is done by the carrier
until a demand for settlement is made by the plaintiff. The carrier’s offer
is more a reaction to the demand than an independent evaluation.”
This
comprehensive insider's guide to the insurance settlement process,
Insurance Settlements gathers the experience of more than 25 veteran
claims managers, attorneys, medical experts, adjusters and others, and turns
it to your advantage. Learn how to settle more efficiently and for top
dollar. The latest two-volume edition now includes a helpful CD-ROM
containing 131 digitized forms, as well as searchable full-text of the book.
The latest
update of Insurance Settlements includes:
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Aspects of claims frequently questioned by adjusters
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How to deal with adjusters, from veterans on both
sides of the bargaining table
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Solutions to common settlement problems, from
learning policy limits to dealing with novice adjusters
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How adjusters view claims, complete with red flags
Updated annually. ISBN 0-938065-53-X Book price: $129.00
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