Why shouldn’t I just accept the trucking company’s insurance settlement?

If you’ve suffered an injury in a truck accident that wasn’t your fault, the trucking insurance may have already offered you some sort of settlement. This will especially be the case if they know you haven’t hired an attorney. That offer is going to seem like a lot of money, and it might be, so it’ll be tempting to accept it.

You can’t undo your decision after accepting a settlement, so it’s important to weigh your options and make the best decision with the help of a St. Louis truck accident attorney. Accepting the settlement too soon could be a decision you’ll regret – keep reading to learn why.

Why you shouldn’t immediately accept the settlement

There are a lot of reasons why accepting the initial trucking company insurance settlement could be a bad idea. Here are just a few.

You may be entitled to more money

The insurance policies that cover commercial trucks are worth an incredible amount of money, often worth $1 million or even more. Since injuries in trucking accidents tend to be severe, they cost more to treat than those that result from the typical car wreck. If your settlement offer is only a fraction of that amount, you could be leaving a lot of compensation on the table.

Your injuries could be worse than you think

There’s a chance you don’t yet know the full extent of your injuries. If you accept a settlement, that will be the end of your case. If you need more involved treatment than you think, you’ll be responsible for paying for it.

The offer may not include pain and suffering

Insurance companies are notorious for trying to reduce accident claims as much as possible. Not only is the initial settlement offer unlikely to cover all of your medical expenses, but it also might not come close to properly compensating you for all of the pain you’re experiencing.

You’ll likely be eligible for pain and suffering compensation, emotional distress, and other types of intangible damages, but they won’t want to properly compensate you for them without a fight.

Tactics used by the insurance company to reduce your settlement amount

The insurance company adjuster may try to act like your friend, but they’re anything but on your side. Adjusters are very skilled, highly paid professionals whose job is to help the insurer save as much money as possible. As a result, they’re not above trying to trick accident victims into accepting lowball settlement offers.

One tactic they’ll use is to try and trick you into accepting at least partial blame for the accident. They’ll ask misleading questions and might even record your answers. If you allow this and you get tricked into saying something wrong, you could easily make a mistake that will cost you a lot of money.

The insurance company might also try to intimidate you by saying that this will be the only offer they’ll make. That’s nothing but a bluff. Once you have a St. Louis truck accident lawyer, that initial settlement offer will be the beginning of negotiations, not the end.

Contact us to learn more

Don’t hesitate to speak with a St. Louis truck accident lawyer with Langdon & Emison before accepting any trucking company insurance settlement. Use our online contact form or call (866) 931-2115 for a free case review. We’ll work closely with you to make sure that any settlement offer is fair based on your injuries and accident-related expenses.