Insurance Adjuster Tactics Following a Texas 18-Wheeler Collision
Insurance Adjuster Tactics Following a Texas 18-Wheeler Collision
When an insurance company is on the line to resolve a claim brought by a victim of a San Antonio 18-wheeler accident, they will likely send their most veteran insurance adjuster to work the claim. Such an adjuster is seldom if ever anything similar to your own neighborhood auto insurance agent. With years of hardening experience in their side, such an insurance adjuster’s goal is often single-minded: to save their company as much money as possible.
To this end, they will employ certain tactics meant to see a claim wholly dismissed or greatly decreased. For example, an aggressive insurance adjuster may interrogate a victim of an 18-wheeler accident, asking repeated questions in slightly varying ways. While it may appear that they’re simply trying to dig to the truth of an accident scene, such interrogation is often used as a means for an insurance adjuster to use a victim’s words against the victim. Through such inquisitive prodding, an adjuster may be able to get a victim to inadvertently admit to a degree of liability for an accident. If even a small degree of liability can be passed from their client to the victim, a substantial decrease in the amount of possible compensation awarded to a victim can be incurred. If more than half of the liability for a semi-truck wreck can be found to have existed with a victim, a victim’s claim can be completely denied. In such instances, it can be vital toward a victim’s rights that they have proper legal counsel, like the San Antonio Texas truck accident lawyers in our firm, that can ensure that they’re not being taken advantage of by an aggressive insurance adjuster.
When a trucking insurance adjuster is not able to stake liability onto another party, they may attempt to offer a victim an unmediated settlement. Such a settlement is often woefully short of the true value of a personal injury lawsuit or a wrongful death lawsuit. In other words, this type of unmediated offer is seldom commensurate with the actual incurred financial losses of a victim of an 18-wheeler accident. It is a shrewdly calculated move on behalf of the insurance company to make quick and cost-efficient work of a trucking accident insurance claim that could result in their company losing millions of dollars. Such an offer is meant as an enticement of sure, quick money to an injured victim or a grieving family. It may even be offered in the immediate aftermath of an 18-wheeler collision, when an aggrieved party may still be in shock or otherwise emotionally distracted so that an adjuster can catch a victim off-guard. These types of settlements are often offered in return for a victim to sign away their rights to pursue any legal action. When such an offer is accepted and a victim has voluntarily signed away their rights, there is little to nothing that any attorney can do to help that victim seek further legal action. If you have been approached by an insurance adjuster with a settlement offer, enlisting the help of an experienced Texas trucking accident attorney is in your best interests, as such a truck wreck lawyer can look over any offer and inform you as to whether or not it is a fair offer for your incurred financial losses.