Good Question!
A lot of people can negotiate their own cases with the insurance company on their own. Unfortunately, I don’t know much about those cases, because I only know about people I have worked for.
So here are some stories. Short.
The insurance company offered Susan (not her real name) and her husband $2,000.00 after their driver hit the concession trailer at the fairgrounds in Pike County where she was getting ready to sell the pork rinds they had packaged.
When she and her husband hired me, the adjuster called me up and offered $4,000.00. After two surgeries, the same insurance company paid them $48,000.00, and their own insurance company paid another $45,000.00 to settle her case.
The other driver hit Shari right after she dropped her kids off at school in Clermont County. She needed two months of therapy. The insurance company offered her $1,500 plus her medical bills – which her health insurance company had paid off with $3,000.
Within three months, I got her an offer for $18,000.00. After paying my fee and her health insurance company, she netted over $9,000.00.
The insurance company wouldn’t settle Carol’s case after her accident in Cincinnati. They claimed that she must have had prior injuries.
She came to me. I got her records and sent them to the insurance company. They paid her $25,000 – more than I thought she probably would have gotten at trial.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. And maybe other lawyers could have done the same thing I did.
But the point is, these people each got a lawyer – who happened to be me – who got them a lot more money than they would have been able to get on their own. I got their medical bills and insurance companies paid off too.
Lawyers can do things besides “just” getting more money.
Your health insurance company will be asking you to pay them back out of your settlement – most lawyers negotiate to reduce the payment.
And if the driver who hit you is underinsured, you may need a lawyer to deal both with the insurance company for the other driver and your own auto insurance company.
And in more than one case, I have been able to find more insurance where the other driver had low limits.
I have been a lawyer over 30 years. I never tell people they don’t need a lawyer, and I can’t remember seeing a lawsuit where the injured person could have done better without a lawyer. If you have a personal injury case in Cincinnati, Ohio or if you want to know what your lawsuit is worth, talk with an experienced Cincinnati Personal Injury Attorney about the case. Call me, William Strubbe, at 513-621-4775.
Because all situations are different, and because there may be other facts pertaining to your case that I don’t know about, you should not rely on this answer for legal advice. I am not your attorney, and no lawyer client relationship has been formed.
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