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This Gets Insurance Adjusters to Pay More - YouTube
Channel: JZ helps (a Florida injury law firm)
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- I'm going to give you 10 tips
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when you're dealing with
insurance claim adjusters
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is to be nice.
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Now, don't mistake you being nice
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for not being tough and assertive.
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But at the end of the case,
the insurance claims adjuster
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is going to be the one who's
writing you your check.
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You wanna be nice and have a
good relationship with them.
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After all, these are people
just like you who have families,
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who are just trying to pay
their bills, et cetera,
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but you ultimately wanna be nice to them
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so that when they think
about reaching out to you
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and giving you a phone
call or when you call them,
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they're in a good mood
and they're not thinking,
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ugh, this is the person I
have to deal with again.
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I've heard defense attorneys
and insurance adjusters say,
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sometimes they pay a little bit more money
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to someone who's nice to them.
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Tip number two is to listen to
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what the insurance adjuster says.
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Let them finish their sentences.
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Sometimes, if need be, let
there be an awkward silence
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during the conversation.
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Sometimes they will call you
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when they're prepared to make an offer,
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but you may interrupt them
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before they're even finished speaking
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and you may tell them
what you think is fair,
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and what you think is fair may even be
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below what they were about to offer you.
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Sometimes they'll let you know a bad fact
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that hurts their defense in your case.
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For example, if you're speaking
to an insurance adjuster,
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perhaps they'll admit to you that
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their driver wasn't paying attention,
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or if you were injured, slipped and fell
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or were otherwise injured
at a business premises,
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perhaps they'll tell you that the store
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or other, or hotel knew about problems
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with the issue that caused your injury.
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I've had that happen in
cases that I've settled,
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one in particular that comes
to my mind for almost $200,000
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where the adjuster actually told me,
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we had this issue with the flooring
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in a particular area of a
hotel before the accident.
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She didn't have to tell
me that, but she did.
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And I think one of the reasons
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why I was able to get
that piece of information
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is because I listened to
her and let her finish
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what she was saying.
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Tip number three when dealing with
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an insurance claim
adjuster is to make sure
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your file and documents are
organized and take notes.
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Your medical documentation, medical bills,
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and all other types of information
is the heart of your case
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and that's what the insurance
adjuster will later use
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to request settlement
authority for your case.
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Every time you speak with
the insurance adjuster
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on the phone you should be taking notes
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during and after the call.
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Rest assured that when the
insurance adjuster calls you,
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he is already, he or she has
already spent several minutes
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reviewing your file and they're prepared.
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You need to be equally prepared.
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When you're looking at your file
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and seeing the amount of
medical bills that you have,
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you should be using some type
of computerized spreadsheet
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like Microsoft Excel, or
Google has a similar program,
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putting all the amounts
of medical bills in there,
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the total bill charges, how
much your insurance paid,
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and the out-of-pocket charges.
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For example, in Florida you're entitled
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to recover out-of-pocket charges,
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but you need to have your file organized.
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Number four goes hand in
hand with number three
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that I just went over, which is just,
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review your file before you reach out
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to the insurance adjuster.
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Spend a few minutes so you know
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exactly what you're gonna talk about,
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you have all your numbers,
your amounts, for example,
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like I was saying about
medical bills, all outlined.
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Also, when you speak with the adjuster,
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confirm that his figures
are the same as yours.
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Confirm that he's received
everything that you've sent,
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he or she.
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You need to make sure you're
looking at the same data
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if you wanna try for a fair settlement.
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Number five, give the
adjuster documentation
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to help him or her.
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You're gonna want to give him
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every single piece of documentation
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that you believe supports your case.
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He or she's gonna
receive that information,
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they're gonna evaluate your case,
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and write a range of how
much they think it's worth,
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they're gonna ask their supervisor
for settlement authority,
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if you're dealing with a larger number.
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Sometimes adjusters have
their own authority,
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let's say, up to $10,000 on their own.
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But you need to give them
all the documentation
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that they need to pay
fair value for your case.
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If you're not giving them
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all the documentation that they need,
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they may wanna offer you fair value,
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but they just don't have
enough documents to support it.
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This includes pictures,
lost wage information,
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all your medical bills,
possibly health insurance,
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lien information, et cetera.
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Help them help you.
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Unfortunately, number six is,
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do not believe what the
insurance adjuster says.
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In a perfect world, everyone
would be transparent,
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there would be no negotiation.
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It's kinda like going to a car dealership.
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You don't pay the sticker price.
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You try to negotiate it.
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Now, in Florida for example,
adjusters have a duty
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to act in good faith to their
insureds, but keep in mind,
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when you're making a claim
against another driver,
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or a business, for example,
you are not their insured.
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Their duty is to their
client, who is their insured.
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Insurance adjusters want
to have a long career
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at their company that they're working at.
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And yes, they have a
duty to act in good faith
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and protect their insured's
interest, but ultimately,
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every dollar that they save their company
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makes them look better.
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I've heard of certain insurance adjusters
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being rewarded for making lower offers
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and saving their companies money.
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Do not mistake a nice adjuster
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for one who is going to pay you money.
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Sometimes you'll deal with
the sweetest, nicest adjuster,
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you'll be sending them your medical bills
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over a period of months,
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you think you guys are
becoming fast friends,
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and then when it comes to offer time,
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they give you zero, they deny liability,
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or they offer you significantly less
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than what you think your case is worth.
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An example of a case which shows that
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you should not listen to what
the insurance adjusters say
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when it comes to your case value
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is a case where a motorcyclist
was hit by a truck
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that failed to yield the right of way.
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The case settled for $445,000.
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This is the truck that
caused the accident.
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However, the insurance
adjuster initially said
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he had reserved the case at $100,000,
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essentially saying the case was worth
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somewhere around the $100,000.
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Now, not too much changed after
that initial conversation,
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but the case ultimately
settled for $445,000,
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so take what they say
with a grain of salt.
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Insurance adjusters
can be very convincing.
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I've actually had cases where
I tried to get more money
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by presenting a certain argument,
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the insurance adjuster told me,
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essentially, that I'm totally wrong
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and then after I took
the proper legal steps,
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the insurance company would pay
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the $10,000 or extra $100,000.
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I've had that happen on several occasions.
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So, they're not always right.
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Sometimes they have to
consult their legal department
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to get the legal answer,
and their legal answer
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may be totally different
than their opinion
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and what they think they know
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because they haven't
handled your issue before.
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The seventh tip in dealing with
an insurance claim adjuster
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is give them a time
deadline for whatever it is
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that you're asking them to do.
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If you're making a settlement demand,
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you should generally
put a time limit on it,
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let's say 30 days or 20 days.
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If you're sending an email,
you should generally give them
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around three or so days to
respond, or a phone call,
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but when you give them a deadline,
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they document it in their file
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and they put it in their calendar
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and will generally follow up with you,
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or they should, around that time.
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Especially in smaller cases,
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where the insurance
company limits are high,
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they may just put your file aside
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and it doesn't become a priority.
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But in order to make your file a priority,
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give the insurance adjuster a deadline.
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Number eight is to respond
to insurance adjusters
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when they reach out to
you, if they call you
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or if they send you an email, quickly.
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This is common sense.
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The longer you wait to respond,
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they adjuster may go on
vacation, it may delay the claim,
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the sooner you respond, all
things equal, the better.
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You do not have to give
a recorded statement
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to the other side's insurance adjuster.
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If it's your own insurance adjuster,
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let's say for PIP or
uninsured motorist insurance,
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you generally have to
give a recorded statement,
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but the sooner you respond,
the sooner you're prepared
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and you're in a calm state
and you're not emotional,
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the better.
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Now, shortly after an accident,
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sometimes you wanna take
a little bit of time
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to gather yourself so
you don't just go out
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spewing your life story to the adjuster
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and you're coming from an emotional place.
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To just hammer this point home,
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if you're injured at a business premises
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or you're injured by another driver
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or you're a passenger in a car
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and the other driver is at fault,
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you generally never and should not give
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your recorded statement
to the insurance company.
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Generally can only be used against you.
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It's very frustrating,
if you ultimately choose
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to hire a lawyer, and he
asks you, or she asks you,
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did you give a recorded
statement, and you say yes,
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generally, all it can
do is hurt your claim.
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Now, you should report the
claim after it happens,
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but do not give that recorded statement.
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Tip number nine is to speak
with a claims supervisor
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or sometimes claims manager,
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if you're not getting what you want.
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Unfortunately, there come times
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where you have to speak with a supervisor.
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It's just like if you're at a hotel
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and the staff is not helping you,
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you ask to speak with a
manager, or at a restaurant,
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if your food is not there on
time, and you're very bothered
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and you feel that you're
getting poor service,
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the same thing with claims.
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Sometimes adjusters are overworked,
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they're not putting enough
attention onto your case,
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they're not evaluating your case properly.
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I've had several cases where
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speaking with a claims
supervisor has helped me
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get more money for my clients.
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You should do the same, if it's warranted.
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Sometimes you ask to
speak with a supervisor
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and the adjuster handling
the file will say,
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you're wasting your time, the
supervisor's gonna tell you
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the same thing as what I'm telling you,
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but the bottom line is, I've
heard that so many times,
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I believe it this much.
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There are times, on the other hand,
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where sometimes speaking with a supervisor
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will not do much for you.
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The supervisor may say,
I'm not gonna go against
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the adjuster's recommendation
and his value of the case.
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If you get tha feeling that you wanna
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speak with a supervisor, you may be right.
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Tip number 10 when dealing
an insurance claims adjuster
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is if you're not getting
what you think is fair
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and maybe you spoke to the
claims supervisor or manager,
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file a consumer complaint with
the Department of Insurance.
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For example, in Florida,
you go to their website,
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you file the consumer complaint,
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or you can even file what's
called a civil remedy notice.
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If you do the latter,
send the insurance company
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a copy of it, because
the department will not.
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This has also helped me
get more money in cases.
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I've had cases where
I was getting offered,
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for example, $10,000.
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I filed a consumer complaint
and a few days later
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I get a call and the offer has
increased to $14,000 or so.
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So it doesn't always work
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and you should only do
it when it's appropriate.
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And it's great if an insurance
company, for example,
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is not responding to your phone calls
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or your letters or they close the claim
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and they're saying they won't reopen it,
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or something of that nature.
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It can be an amazing tool
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when they're not being fair with you.
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But again, we use these sparingly,
we don't always use them.
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We use them when we feel that
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the insurance company is
not acting in good faith.
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I hope you enjoyed this video.
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Please give me your comments.
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