Obtaining full payment for all your losses
By: Dan Baldyga
Date: 2002-07-27
Your motor vehicle was struck a solid blow in the rear end. There's no question that you're entitled to full payment for all your losses.
Present to the adjuster the figures you have listed for all the bills, costs, and expenses which are a direct result of the accident. Make copies of everything. Keep the originals and hand the copies to him. Make sure you get full compensation for every loss and expense you incurred, including your gross wage loss amount. (Not your net wage loss, but the gross wage's you lost.) Permit no deductions to be taken out for sick leave benefits, even if you've been paid your wages by your employer and/or been reimbursed from some other insurance coverage you may have. In many states, if you are self-employed (even if you didn't lose a penny out-of-pocket) your "lost earning capacity" is a legitimate reimbursement as part of your settlement.
If the adjuster attempts to disallow your gross wage loss figure, or insists on disallowing you certain kinds of wage-related expenditures which you have declared (some states differ), make him prove he can. Here's how: Demand the adjuster cite his "legal authority" for the position he's taking. Ask him to quote you book, chapter and verse (or produce for your review) specific court decisions, or legal precedents or statuary texts in in the state in which the accident took place, which gives him legal justification for doing this.
If he can't come up with any proof (in most instances he won't be able to) and yet persists, tell the adjuster you're going to call your state insurance commissioner's local office (you should already have that telephone number handy and with you) to verify the legality of his proposed payment to be based on your net income vs. your gross income. At this point, ask that the negotiation session be temporarily stopped so you can make this call.
In the vast majority of instances you won't have to make it. Why? Because no adjuster in his right mind would want a personal complaint lodged against him with state officials, especially during a negotiation session. Rest assured; he'll agree to pay the full gross wage loss amount, or otherwise come up with an acceptable compromise. How does Dan know this to be true? Because he's been there and done that! Insisting on getting every dime owed to you is your absolute right.
---To learn how not to be taken advantage of read Dan Baldyga's third "how to" insurance claim book Auto Accident Personal Injury Insurance Claim (How To Evaluate And Settle Your Loss) found at www.autoaccidentclaims.com, or your local bookstore.
DISCLAIMER:
The above is intended for background information. Its only purpose is to help people understand the motor vehicle accident claim process. Dan Baldyga nor Drivers.com makes no guarantee of any kind whatsoever, NOR DO THEY purport to
engage in rendering any professional or legal service, NOR TO substitute for a lawyer, an insurance adjuster, or claims consultant, or the like. Where such professional help is desired IT IS THE INDIVIDUAL'S RESPONSIBILITY TO OBTAIN IT.
2002 By Daniel G. Baldyga. All Rights Reserved
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