“Insurance wants to settle, why do I need an attorney?” is a common question from our personal injury clients. The insurance company has contacted you and is prepared to offer a settlement. Your personal injury case will soon be over. The stress and agonizing over the details is coming to an end, and you can feel the stress relief. Finally, a financial payment to help cover medical bills and missed work.

However, not all settlements are in your favor, and some are full of bad faith and are literally designed to leave you not with the money you bargained for, but rather an empty bag. This is why McCraw Law Group strongly recommends having a McKinney personal injury claims attorney a proposed settlement offer before you accept it. We have seen it all, from lowball proposals to offers that require you to pay the company back.

Evaluating The Settlement

McCraw Law Group will break down the settlement offer; making sure that the offer is both fair and does not have hidden trapdoors for you to fall into.

Reimbursement for your injury case should take multiple factors into consideration.

• Injury Severity. The nature and severity of your injury plays a significant role in determining the value of the settlement. Accidents that cause chronic pain, long-term rehabilitation, and disfigurement will warrant a higher payout. Each personal injury claim is unique, and our McKinney injury attorneys look at the individuality of each case.
• Type of Treatment Required. This factor corresponds with injury severity. If your injuries require long-term treatments or highly invasive surgeries, you should be paid more by the insurance company. More serious injuries that caused permanent damage may warrant full time care. You should not be left holding the medical bill.
• Aggravating Factors. This refers to the facts that surround your case. Did a drunk driver or a texting driver hit you? Did poorly maintained equipment at your workplace cause the injury? Anytime gross negligence is involved, the settlement should reflect the negligence.

McCraw Law Group also looks at who caused your injury and their background. All these factors play a role in the insurance settlement. Leaving out any of this information when determining your settlement can leave thousands, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars on the settlement table.

Your Settlement Is A Contract

Calculation of value is half of the settlement equation. The details and specific wording of the insurance settlement makes up the other half. McCraw Law Group’s personal injury lawyers will comb through the offer to look for any deception that insurance companies use to keep money in their pocket. Some of these tactics include:

• Unfair or overbroad indemnification clauses (requiring you to pay an insurance company back)
• Failure to make full and timely payments
• Policy cancellation
• Failure to convey full details of the offer and hiding bad provisions in the settlement agreement after money has been agreed to

Too often the insurance company will hope you sign quickly, and sneak in a clause that reduces your settlement or otherwise hurts you. Once you sign the settlement contract, it can be very difficult or even impossible to make changes later to recover the funds you should have received.

When Insurance Wants To Settle, Get Help First

Before you sign, contact McCraw Law Group to schedule a free consultation. When asking “Insurance wants to settle, why do I need an attorney?”, remember that McCraw has experience in all types of personal injury cases.