Articles
Understanding An Insurance Adjuster
If a person attempts to handle a personal injury claim without the assistance of an experienced attorney, the deck is definitely stacked in favor of the insurance company. This simple fact is true whether it is the insurance company of a person responsible for the injury or whether it is the insurance company of the injured person.
An adjuster is the employee of the insurance company. He does not work for the individual claimant, no matter how polite, considerate or seemingly sympathetic he may appear.
Every person should be treated politely and with respect under all circumstances. This includes adjusters. But, for the average individual acting alone it can be dangerous. As a general rule, an impression of kind and friendly concern has a way of making a person feel comfortable and relaxed. It engenders a feeling of trust and reliance. This often translates into the feeling that the adjuster is some how a friend. Adjusters are trained, either by their company or their experience, to gain an advantage from these basic human emotional responses.
The individual may not understand the adjuster is out to win according to the rules of the contest which more often than not the individual does not know nor understand. Nothing personal, just his job. He is not the individual's friend! In actuality, if he were, he should not be handling the claim. It might create a conflict of interest. After all, a person can not serve two masters at the same time. Otherwise, to the extend he serves one, he does a disservice to the other.
Like most employees an adjuster wants to be recognized as doing a good job for his employer. He clearly understands if he does not perform well, it will not be long before he is looking for another way to feed himself or his family. He wants to be happy and secure. No one wants to be out pounding the pavement looking for work. Doing a good job for the company usually translates into getting the best of the individual making a claim according to the insurance company's own internal definitions of a job well done.
After all, how long would a professional fighter last in the ring, if he continually loses the prize money? In most cases an individual who attempts to act alone and without an attorney is pitted against a pro bent on keeping the money to look good to the boss. It is similar to a country fellow at the country fair who thinks because he is big and strong in matters of daily life he can get in the ring with a professional and win the big money. It usually does not happen. About the only difference between such a country fellow and an individual claimant is that the country fellow knows the amount of money he lost where the individual acting without an attorney is often unaware of how much he lost.
If the adjuster is to keep his job, he must do his best to look good at all times when the settlement bottom line is reviewed by his boss. His job security depends upon it! An adjuster is paid to make money for the company not to lose it or give it away. In this effort he will serve his master - not the individual making the claim! We are talking money and big business here!
The different interests still exist if an injured individual hires an attorney to represent him, but the odds in his favor are greatly improved. An attorney is the professional champion of the client he is hired to serve. When an experienced attorney is hired, the odds are much better the client will realize just and fair compensation.
