Negotiating a Personal Injury Claim

[Bach1]

State is New Hampshire. I guess this would be an opinion question but I'm wondering what people think who are more familiar with the process. I'm settling a personal injury claim and the offer on the table from the insurance company is less than my expenses. I have obtained additional evidence of my expenses and injuries so I'm wondering if a counteroffer with only a token reduction would cause the insurance company to stop negotiating altogether.

To be more specific, my expenses are $10K and my time off work is $6K (that's days off for pain and hours off for appointments to treat the injuries). The insurance company has an offer on the table for $13K which doesn't cover my minimum expenses. My last offer was $40K.

I've collected additional documentation from my employer citing the time off for appts (it wasn't spelled out clearly in my initial demand apparently) as well as a personal note from my manager about the time off, letters from coworkers indicating they were aware I was out on many occassions for appts related to my injury and a narrative from my doctor about my injuries, treatment and prognosis (only had doc notes before, not a narrative about longterm impact). I am thinking of responding with the new evidence and a counteroffer of $39,500 (only $500 less). I don't want to stall out negotiations altogether, but I want them to acknowledge my mimimum expenses before making any further reduction in my demand or I won't have any negotiating room left.

The adjuster's last comments were that she reviewed my claim with her manager and was not "authorized" to go any higher on it, particularly because our amounts are so far appart...that the only way they could go higher is if I made a significant reduction in my asking amount to get us closer together. Seems like a negotiating ploy and a bunch of BS to me.

Opinions?

[lwpat]

I doubt thay are going to do much more than the 13 unless you get an attorney. The problem is that he is going to get his off the top and you will need to get 20 just to end up with 13 and it will take two or three years. The insurance companies know this and use it to their advantage. One option may be to file a "bad faith" complaint with your state insurance commissioner.

[aaron]

Bad faith claims with insurance companies relate to their treatment of their own insureds, not to third parties making a claim. The bad faith refusal to settle a claim can sometimes work to the advantage of a third party, such as where they subsequently obtain a judgment in excess of the policy limits and their acts of bad faith result in their having to indemnify their insured for that excess.

[Bach1]

Sooooo, do I take that to mean you think that going back with only a token reduction WILL stall negotiations, even though I will be presenting more evidence? I am willing to negotiate, but not until they meet my minimum expenses.

[lwpat]

Sorry, I did not make myself clear. In our state you can file a complaint against an insurance company that is not negotiating in good faith, regardless of whether it is your insurance company or not. While the state may or may not do anything, just the fact you have filed a complaint may make them take notice. To file a lawsuit you have to go directly against the other party. Thanks for the clarification.

[Bach1]

Sorry, I did not make myself clear. In our state you can file a complaint against an insurance company that is not negotiating in good faith, regardless of whether it is your insurance company or not. While the state may or may not do anything, just the fact you have filed a complaint may make them take notice. To file a lawsuit you have to go directly against the other party. Thanks for the clarification.

lwpat (or anyone else), do you know if this applies in New Hampshire? In addition to not meeting my mimimum expenses without explanation, the adjuster keeps mentioning some collateral source payments when the collateral source rule applies in NH AND referenced a supposed "prior claim" in my "history" (whatever the heck that is) during negotiations, I suspect to intimidate me. I would very much like to know if I can file a complaint against the insurance company for lack of good faith in NH. Thanks!