Personal Injury Law

Negotiating a Settlement with Car Insurance Companies

Accident lawyers attempting to negotiate settlements with insurance companies tend to view insurance companies as monolithic, i.e., "Insurance Company A is difficult' or "Insurance Company B is easy to deal with on claims."

It is an oversimplification. Claims practices by different insurance companies vary from state to state and even from insurance claims adjuster to insurance claims adjuster. But, certainly, each insurance company has its own history, policies and "world view" of handling auto accident claims.

It is also worth noting that the similarities of individual insurance companies tend to vary inversely with the severity of the accident. This is because larger cases invariably require more discretion on the part of the insurance adjuster, and serious injury cases are given to more experienced adjusters who are given more trust from the insurance company.

With all of that said, we have analyzed some of the larger insurance companies:

• State Farm
• Allstate
• Geico
• Nationwide
• MAIF
• Erie
  

Full post as published by Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog on November 11, 2009 (boomark / email).