What Role Does an Insurance Adjuster Play in a Delray Beach Truck Accident Lawsuit?

All trucking companies must obtain relatively high levels of insurance in order to legally operate in Florida. As a result, insurance will probably play a significant role in your Delray Beach semi-truck accident lawsuit. One of the people you’ll likely be dealing with is an “insurance adjuster.” What is an insurance adjuster, and how will they affect your ability to pursue compensation?

What Is an Insurance Adjuster?

An insurance adjuster is an employee of an insurance company who oversees the truck accident claim. Another term for this individual is “claims adjuster.” The key purpose of this person is to help the insurer (their employer) save money. The easiest way to accomplish this goal is to find an excuse to deny the claim.

If that doesn’t work, the adjuster tries to minimize financial losses to the greatest extent possible. Adjusters often have various skills. They may have experience with investigations, financial calculations, filing reports, and basic legal steps.

How Does an Insurance Adjuster Affect a Truck Accident Lawsuit?

When a trucker causes you to suffer serious injuries in Florida, your obvious next step is to sue the trucking company. The trucking company then turns to its insurance provider for liability coverage. Since the insurance company agreed to cover the trucking company in this type of situation, they step in and essentially “take over” the entire process.

An adjuster tries to eliminate losses by attacking the legitimacy of your claim. For example, they might try to accuse you of causing the crash instead of the trucker. An adjuster also handles the initial stages of an investigation, perhaps reviewing dashcam footage, witness statements, and logbooks in order to minimize liability.

Depending on the specific circumstances of the truck accident lawsuit, the adjuster may then enter into settlement negotiations with you. In other words, they will offer you some kind of financial payment in exchange for ending the entire lawsuit before it reaches the trial stage. Often, these initial settlement offers are extremely low.

It obviously makes sense to reject lowball offers and negotiate for a more appropriate sum. However, not all injured victims are skilled negotiators. On the other hand, adjusters often have decades of negotiation experience and can potentially take advantage of injured victims. This is one of the many reasons truck accident victims often decide to hire personal injury attorneys to represent them during settlement negotiations.

If the negotiations fail, the insurance company will turn to defense attorneys as the case heads to trial. Your lawyer can continue to represent you during the trial, and eventually a jury will decide whether you should receive compensation (and how much).

Can a Delray Beach Semi-Truck Accident Lawyer Help Me?

A Delray Beach truck accident lawyer may be able to help explain concepts like insurance adjusters and settlement negotiations. A concrete understanding of how insurance affects your case may provide you with greater confidence. Consider expanding on this conversation by contacting Steinberg Law at your earliest convenience.

Source:

 myfloridacfo.com/division/agents/compliance/adjusters