After you have been in a car accident that left you injured and your car considerably bashed up, you might not be able to get to work, school, or other functions easily, or at all. On the off-chance that the other driver’s insurance adjuster accepts liability for the damages and offers you a settlement, should you take it? What if you are also suing the driver for your personal injury damages? Can you settle your car repair claim before you settle an injury claim?
No Clear Answers, One Clear Solution
There can be a great deal of unforeseen troubles if you jump at the first settlement you are offered by insurance adjusters. What might seem like a fair amount right now could wind up being a fraction of what your car is actually worth. Once you take that settlement, there is no going back.
The liable party may also use your fast settlement for your repair claim to their advantage, attempting to subtract the amount you received from their insurance from what you receive from them. While this could be the outcome, regardless, there is not much reason to encourage it. You must also remember that whatever you say to the insurance adjuster about your repairs can be used by the defendant in your personal injury claim. In short, the more you talk to them, the more likely you are to get lured into misspeaking or inadvertently accepting blame.
At Eliot Reiner, APLC, our advice is to see if you can get a rental car through your insurance company. That way you won’t feel tempted to jump at a settlement because you aren’t stuck in place without a working vehicle. We also highly suggest you retain an attorney to do all the talking for you. With the help of our Sacramento personal injury lawyer, you can negotiate a settlement or coverage amount for both of your claims without worrying about accepting too less, or saying too much. If your case goes as planned and you succeed with our legal guidance, you should be closing both claims at roughly the same time anyway.
Contact us for more information. We offer free case evaluations to get you started.