After making a car accident claim, you may be wondering, what is a good settlement offer? While the value of a claim varies heavily from case to case, there are a few clear signs an insurance company is lowballing you and telling you you’ve received a lowball insurance settlement offer.
5 signs of a lowball insurance settlement offer in New Mexico: the offer arrives within days of the accident, adjusters use high-pressure tactics to get a fast signature, they minimize your injuries or blame you, the offer ignores future medical care and lost wages, and there’s no itemized breakdown showing how they calculated the amount.
Key Points
Here are a few ways insurance companies may try to undermine your New Mexico car accident claim.
It’s always important to take time after an accident to assess the full extent of your damages. Unfortunately, insurance companies don’t want you to figure out the full value of your claim.
To keep you from researching your accident, they may ask you to waive your right to sue them in exchange for an immediate settlement. Their goal is to get desperate victims to accept the first offer. However, this lowball insurance settlement offer is usually much lower than the case is worth.
One of the insurance company settlement tactics used to minimize a claim is to call the severity of your injuries into question. In fact, they may try to attribute your injuries to pre-existing conditions or over-exaggeration. They might even push back against the opinion of your doctor, accusing them of being untrustworthy.
Since many car accident claims go through the defendant’s insurance company, the adjustor often tries to blame the accident on the claimant. Maybe they suggest that you didn’t look both ways at a stop sign.
Perhaps they believe you were texting and driving. Whatever they claim, they may hang their lowball insurance settlement offer over your head as the only option.
A major red flag in a New Mexico insurance claim is if the adjustor ignores evidence of damages. Insurance companies may write off certain medical bills, photos, or witness statements as irrelevant.
However, they usually do this when the evidence may work in the claimant’s favor. This is a pretty good indication that the insurance company may be minimizing your claim.
If you decline the first offer, the insurance company might just stop communicating with you completely. In addition, if you manage to get ahold of them, they may say that they “lost” your emails, letters, etc.
At this point, they hope you get desperate enough to accept a lower car accident settlement offer. However, they then use that opportunity to offer a lower amount.
A lowball offer is a settlement amount that is well below the actual value of your claim. Insurance companies do this hoping you will accept quickly, before you understand the full cost of your medical treatment, lost wages, and other damages.
Adjusters often move quickly because they know an early offer, made before you have fully assessed your injuries, is usually cheaper for the insurer than a settlement negotiated later with complete medical documentation.
Yes. Adjusters representing the other driver’s insurance company will sometimes shift blame onto the claimant, such as suggesting you were distracted or failed to follow traffic laws, to justify a lower offer.
A reduced second offer is a common sign that the insurance company is not negotiating in good faith. At this point, it is worth speaking with a personal injury attorney before responding.
You are not required to have a lawyer, but an attorney can help gather evidence, counter the insurer’s tactics, and negotiate for a settlement that reflects the true value of your claim.
If you sustain an injury in a New Mexico car accident and the insurance company pressures you to accept a settlement, call our attorneys. At Tawney, Acosta & Chaparro P.C., we advocate for the best interests of our clients from day one.
Whether you need help gathering evidence for your claim or negotiating a settlement, we’re here to help. To schedule a free, confidential consultation, give us a call at 575-222-1000 or contact us online.
Daisy Chaparro is an El Paso native committed to serving her community through compassionate and effective legal representation. After graduating from El Dorado High School, she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a minor in Philosophy from St. Mary’s University. Daisy went on to earn her Juris Doctor (magna cum laude) from Texas Tech University School of Law in 2015. She proudly represents clients with a dedication rooted in her deep ties to the border region.
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