Negotiating a Settlement With State Farm: Insurance Claim Tips & Tactics
Sep 4, 2022 | Read Time: 24 minutesNegotiating a Settlement With State Farm: Insurance Claim Tips & Tactics Here we will cover settlement negotiating tips and secrets State Farm adjusters don’t want you to know in order to maximize your bodily injury settlement, including answers to frequently asked questions regarding State Farm car accident settlements. Overview of State Farm Claims State Farm is the largest insurance company in the United States (by direct premiums written). With their massive marketing budget, they’ve attempted to convince consumers that like a good neighbor, State Farm is there if you ever need them. However, the over the years, their policyholders would likely disagree with their well-known tagline. Playing Hardball State Farm lead the charge in overhauling the handling of auto insurance claims with their internal company philosophy of the Three D’s—DELAY, DENY, DEFEND. Even when presented with valid claims, they decided to unnecessarily delay the handling of these claims by taking their time in investigating and ultimately determining liability on those that were valid. They’d also deny valid claims, leaving the claimant with the only choice of going to court. And they’d aggressively defend these cases throughout litigation. What this all meant for State Farm was more time to hold the premiums in their hands so that they could maximize the investment income on this money. What this meant for their insureds and claimants was frustration, wasted time, and countless lawsuits filed. In an 18-month CNN investigation, it was found that State Farm (along with Allstate) employed a hardball scheme in minor-crash claims, including employing the Three-D’s, convincing juries that these claims were fraudulent, and treating claimants unfairly. Documents CNN obtained in the investigation highlighted that this scheme was purely for profit and was not to crack down on fraud, as State Farm had claimed. Fighting State Farm’s Delay, Deny, Defend Strategy You don’t need to fall victim to State Farm’s strategy to avoid paying or undervaluing your auto accident injury claim. The following 10 tips will help in fighting back and avoid being a casualty to State Farm’s Three-D’s strategy: 1. Get Medical Treatment Immediately If you’re injured, you need to seek medical treatment as soon as possible. Preferably go to the emergency room by ambulance. Now is not the time to be cheap. Of course, you only want to seek medical treatment if you’re injured. Don’t go faking your injuries. State Farm will find you out (see #7 below). If you’re not initially in pain immediately after the accident, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not injured. When your adrenaline is rushing through your body after an auto accident, many times you are numb to pain. You may wake up the next day or several days later stiff, sore, or with limited range of motion in your back, neck, or limps. You can go to an emergency room or urgent care later down the road but as time passes, it’ll be more difficult to prove that your injuries were caused by the accident. State Farm certainly gives claimants a hard time if there are substantial gaps in medical treatment. Don’t let this happen. Get to the doctor (this includes the chiropractor)! 2. Do Not Give State Farm a Recorded Statement State Farm is notorious for asking for a recorded statement from claimants. DO NOT GIVE A RECORDED STATEMENT! There is no requirement under the law that you give a statement to the other driver’s insurance company. I will preface this by saying do not give a recorded statement to State Farm if they are the insurance carrier of the at-fault party. If they are your insurer and you’re making a claim under your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, PIP, Medical Payments, Collision, or Comprehensive coverages, then you’ll need to talk to them. But be very careful in talking to them. Although they are your insurance company, this is where things become adversarial. It’s probably best in this scenario to discuss your case with a car accident lawyer prior to talking with State Farm. 3. Reject State Farm’s “Nuisance” Offer A “nuisance” offer is an offer made by an insurance company to quickly settle a case for an absurdly low amount to make the claimant go away. These offers range anywhere from the low hundreds to low thousands. Sometimes they may even offer to pay your emergency room bill or a few visits to the chiropractor, at a reduced amount, of course. Reject these types of offers! If State Farm is offering you any money for your bodily injury claim, they likely have more to offer, if you can prove your case’s damages to them. By “damages,” I mean medical expenses, lost wages, and any general damages, including pain and suffering. On many injury claims, specifically those with soft tissue injuries, State Farm assigns the claim to a team. This means State Farm is placing a low value on your case. These team adjusters typically have very low settlement authority and will try to get the case resolved as quickly as possible before the claimant gets a lawyer involved. Before any offer is accepted in writing or over the phone, make sure you at least talk to a car accident lawyer. They always give free consultations and if you hire one, you will not have to pay them anything up front. They’ll only get paid if they are able to win your case. One more thing: if you settle your case by signing a release or accepting an offer orally, it will be extremely difficult to get out of it. Remember a settlement is final! Trying to get State Farm to pay you more money after you’ve settled with them will be futile. 4. Know the “Eggshell Skull Plaintiff” Doctrine State Farm, like the vast majority of insurance companies, ignore this important legal doctrine. Not only do they ignore it, but they try to turn the tables on the claimant when it comes to preexisting conditions or injuries. So, what is the Eggshell Skull Plaintiff doctrine? It’s a common law (judge created) doctrine...
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