I am a personal injury attorney. Prior to joining Buri Funston Mumford PLLC, I practiced in the area of insurance defense law. I was hired by insurance companies to defend their insureds in lawsuits. My work on the “dark side” gives me an advantage. I understand how the insurance industry views injury claims and what tactics the insurance adjuster and defense lawyer will use to try to pay less than full value for your claim.
Actually, the “dark side” consists of people doing their job – most of them are decent folks. But their job is to settle as many claims as possible with accident victims BEFORE they contact an attorney. The biggest mistake people make is believing that the insurance company is their friend. Their slogans say “you’re in good hands”, and “like a good neighbor”. Don’t believe it.
No matter how ethical and nice adjusters are, they stand in an adversarial relationship to the injured person. That’s because they work for the insurance company, and their job is to pay as little per claim as possible. It is amazing to me how many people just accept the valuation the insurance company offers, and settle their case without even seeking a second opinion. Sometimes insurance companies get away with paying as little as 10% of what the claim is really worth.
Clients often wonder whether they can afford to hire a lawyer to represent them. I represent clients on a contingency fee basis for most injury cases, so they pay me no money up front and I am paid from the proceeds of a successful settlement or verdict.
Another common question is whether it is worth it to pay the typical one-third contingency fee to hire an attorney. In my experience, there have been only one or two cases where I thought the client would do better settling directly with the insurance company – and I told them so. In almost every case, a good attorney can more than justify their contingency fee by obtaining a result much better than the client could achieve alone. This is because a good attorney is not afraid to try a case in court if necessary, and has the skills and experience to obtain a favorable verdict for the client.
Real examples:
A client contacted our office after being offered $600 by the insurance company for hip and low back pain. She tried to negotiate with them and to explain that the pain had caused her to miss work and lose sleep, but they would not budge. After filing suit and conducting discovery, the insurance company paid the full limits of their policy without having to go to trial.
In another case, the insurance company offered $1,000 to a client with an injured knee. He was so mad that he hired me, even though he told me he would have accepted $5,000. The case settled for many times more than the client was originally willing to accept.
Sometimes, the at-fault party does not have enough insurance to make the person whole. In those cases, the client has to pursue an Underinsured Motorist Policy with their own insurance company. In a recent case of a serious arm injury we were able to settle the case before filing suit for the policy limits of three insurance policies: the negligent driver’s policy, the negligent owner’s policy and the client’s own UIM policy.
