How Insurance Claims Adjusters Arrive at Their First Offer

Insurance claims adjusters are employed by an insurance company to evaluate the damage and injury resulting from an automobile accident and provide an estimate of the amount of money needed to compensate the parties involved. Below is a description of the process a claims adjuster engages in when arriving at his first offer.

Inspecting Property Damage

The very first step a claims adjuster takes when arriving at his first offer is to personally inspect the property damaged in the accident. To do so, the adjuster will look at the automobiles involved in the accident. The insurance company will have a sheet of values for auto part replacement or repair. The adjuster then writes down these amounts and adds them together to determine the total cost of the repair.

If the automobile is beyond repair and must be sent to the junkyard, the adjuster will consult the list of value of the automobile at the time it was ruined. This value will be depreciated to the current value of the car.

Consult Mechanics

The next step in the adjuster’s evaluation is to interview mechanics affiliated with the insurance company about the cost of repairing the vehicle. The adjuster could interview several mechanics and average the estimates or could use a single estimate. This step is important because it will tell the adjuster how much labor will cost for the repair.

Compile Costs and Adjust

After gathering this information the adjuster will return to the office, add together the total estimated cost or average the amount of the estimates, including labor in either calculation. Next, he will reduce this calculation by the amount of deductible in the insurance contract. He will then consult the insurance company guidelines to see whether his calculation is higher than the company will accept.

If the calculation is too high or even if it is acceptable, the adjuster will then look for ways to reduce the amount of money the company will offer. This could mean taking into account potential payments from the other party’s automobile insurance or medical insurance payments. After reducing all possible amounts, the adjuster will then submit the final calculation as an initial offer of payment to the claimant.

Getting Legal Help

An insurance adjuster’s initial offer is rarely enough to cover the costs and injuries claimed by a party. If you have been injured in an automobile accident and have received or anticipate receiving an initial offer from an insurance company, consult an attorney about a reasonable amount to expect and how to negotiate for more money.

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