Will an insurance company really take advantage of a person without a Pennsylvania accident lawyer to offer a settlement much lower than the facts of the case call for? In a word, the answer is yes. The overwhelming evidence suggests that most insurers first make an extremely low settlement offer that they hope will be accepted by accident victims without a lawyer who are injured, out of work and need the money badly. However, having an experienced Pennsylvania accident lawyer protects you from those kinds of settlement offers.

Report: Insurance Companies Lowball Initial Offers

In a 2007 investigative report by Anderson Cooper on CNN, it was revealed that 10 out of 12 major insurers use a tactic that has been described as “delay, deny and defend.” Here’s how it works: The insurance company may begin with an extremely low initial offer and then do nothing for an extended period of time before trying to extend matters further in a long, drawn-out lawsuit. For someone injured in a lawsuit, the settlement is an important way to pay off medical bills and restore some normalcy in life. By delaying or even denying that you were hurt, or that you were responsible for the wreck even if you weren’t, the insurers are betting that most people will take whatever money is offered, according to Cooper.

Accident Lawyers Can Battle Delaying Tactics

But the tactic of delay, deny and defend doesn’t work, according to CNN and other experts, when someone injured in an accident due to the negligence of another party has a lawyer on their side. An accident attorney is trained to understand when a settlement offer is fair or when important elements are left out. Also, an accident lawyer can file legal documents complaining about the delays in order to speed up the resolution.

Accident Lawyers Can Prove All Your Settlement Items

There are potentially many different aspects to the settlement in your accident case. Do you know how to show proof of your future medical costs, for example? That’s an analysis an experienced accident lawyer has successfully made in many previous cases. What about pain and suffering? Pennsylvania courts will include awards to compensate for pain and suffering, and a Pennsylvania accident lawyer knows exactly what evidence a judge or jury needs to see in order to get the best possible outcome for you.