An insurance company is a BUSINESS, not a friend. 

The primary goal of insurance companies, like other companies, is to make money. No matter how many funny or heartwarming commercials you see on TV or promotional emails they send you with emojis in the subject line, their motive at the end of the day is to protect their bottom line. 

Are all insurance companies the same? No. Are there good people out there who work for them? Sure. But the extensive experience of Bormaster Law has repeatedly been that when we deal with them in the car and 18-wheeler accident industry, it is very rare that we walk away from a case feeling like the insurance company acted fairly. It is a fight from beginning to end. 

It starts with filing a claim. Depending on the insurance company, you will either get the claim information at the end of the call or you will be told someone will call you within 24-48 hours. Sometimes they do not even call. You end up having to call them back. Hopefully, they answer. 

Of course, all of this is happening while some or all of the following are happening as well:

• Your car is in a storage lot that you may have no information on
• You are unsure how you will get to the next place you need to go because you have no vehicle
• You are in absolute shock and your adrenaline is pumping, unsure of your next move
• You are injured and have no idea where to start treatment or how it will be paid for
• You have to work the next day
• Your kids need to eat that night
• The rest of the pressures of everyday life are staring you in the face 

Insurance companies know this.

They know how challenging an accident can be, and they know it will flip your world upside down. Your natural instinct is to believe that the protection you pay them for will be readily available, and their marketing reinforces that. But…

• You are not in good hands with Allstate
• State Farm is not a good neighbor
• Nationwide is not on your side
• Farmers has “seen a thing or two,” so they know how to save THEIR money on your claim
• Progressive and GEICO do not even try to hide it; they market themselves as cheap and that’s all a means to keep more money in their pocket

“But the adjuster was so nice!” you might say.

Of course they were. They are trained to be.  They know being nice puts them in the best possible position to have you work with them instead of hiring a lawyer. Being nice and getting you to put your guard down also puts them in the best possible position to settle your case for as little as possible. Some of them even get a bonus on their paycheck if they can settle your case for less than it’s worth. 

The moment you file your claim, they start testing the waters with you to see how far they can go in devaluing your case. Here are some tactics insurance adjusters apply:

• Offer you a very quick settlement hoping to prevent you from getting costly medical treatment and having time to think about getting legal representation
• Not call you back so your case drags on and frustrates you, hoping to put you closer to a position of desperation, so you take any offer they’re willing to give
• Find someway to blame you for the entire accident or at least part of it so they do not have to compensate you 100%
• Deny medical bills because they feel the treatment was overpriced, not done in a timely manner, and/or because it is not “accident treatment”
• Claim your accident is too MINOR to have caused injuries
• State you likely have pre-existing injuries to minimize what the accident caused
• Ask specific questions during a recorded statement to get you to say something out of context
• Ask you to sign a medical authorization so they have authority to get your records and have conversations with your doctors
• Tell you you do not need a lawyer, when they know all too well a law firm can help you tremendously with your case.  

You can’t cut corners with insurance companies.

From start to finish, you want to make sure you do everything right according to Texas Law to put you in the best possible position when it comes time to negotiate. However, even if you do everything right, the insurance company is still going to try to offer you less than your case is truly worth. 

Frankly, a lot of adjusters do not even know what your case is worth. Most of them work with a computer software that spits out a low offer, medium offer and high offer. The numbers that spit out of the software are dictated by what the adjuster puts into the software. For the adjuster to accurately assess your case, they need to know the law and what you are entitled to based upon the damages you have. Most of them do not. 

For example, let’s say you’re having trouble walking up the stairs from your injuries. Or maybe you can’t do household chores like mow the lawn. Maybe your relationship with your significant other has been affected, or you have specific injuries that have held you back in many areas. The list goes on and on of how an accident can affect your life. And if you do not put this in writing to the adjuster, they will not check off the boxes in their software which causes your offer to change…

And even if you do, they may still avoid checking a box or two. 

It’s up to you or a law firm to make sure you get compensated for all the damages the law says you are entitled to.

This requires you or an attorney asking a lot of questions during negotiations to make sure the insurance company is giving you the offer you deserve. If they think you or the firm that represents you does not have what it takes to truly defend your case, they will give you a low offer just to see if you or your attorney will file a lawsuit. 

And even then, they are still calculating their risk if you decide to do so. They will look at the firm’s courtroom success to see if they are threatened by the lawsuit filed. This is why you need to make sure you have a law firm that is willing to go the distance no matter what and fight for every penny the law says you are entitled to. 

Bormaster Law knows the tricks of the trade. We won’t let the insurance company bully you into taking less than you deserve. Our experienced attorneys will put you in a far better financial position at the end of your case, even when you factor in their fees coming out. 

So feel free to call or text us anytime if you’re interested in having Bormaster Law represent you. Your insurance company isn’t your friend… but the team at Bormaster Law is. We are the Texas Accident Experts and we treat your case like it’s the only one we have.