Suffering because of personal injury may be a bit challenging when you want to claim insurance. Most policies do not have this point since the reasons may be unacceptable. Hence, you should know further about personal injury insurance claim settlements.
The main reason why you need to settle it is that you can enjoy this benefit, especially when the case of personal injury is because of an accident or assault. When it is caused by others, you can claim it from the insurance company. Here is more information to claim and settle it.
The Types of Personal Injury Insurance Claim Settlements
1. Economic Damage
Personal injury causes economic damage since you have to go to healthcare providers to get some medical treatment. You need to pay the medical bill which may be expensive. It is one of the financial losses that you can calculate for insurance claims.
The estimation of economic damage consists of several things below:
- Medical bill: this is the expense that you have paid before to treat the injury after the incidents.
- Future medical bill: you may have to treat the injury in the future, so you should estimate how much the cost is until you heal from the injury.
- Loss and damage: because of injury, you may not be able to work and continue your daily life. Thus, you have to calculate this as the result of injury.
- Lost wages and earnings: those who get paid according to work hours, may suffer from losing earnings. This factor is considerable too.
2. Non-economic damage
The non-economic damage can be included in personal injury insurance claim settlements. The points that you have to calculate for this reason are:
- Pain: the injury may trouble you in a very painful way that you lose the chance to enjoy your life.
- Trauma: any kind of causes the personal injury may bring trauma to yourself. Thus, you can claim the insurance for mental health care. This policy is available in health insurance.
- Loss of companionship: this part is important to understand because the injury may also trouble you for losing companionship. This damage is included in an insurance claim.
3. Punitive damages
If the personal injury is caused by an intentional accident, where the person wanted to kill or harm you, you can claim punitive damage. However, it should be proved in the court first. The amount of coverage will be decided by the court and insurance company.
The Steps to Claim The Personal Injury Insurance
1. Contact the lawyer
The first thing you have to do is contact the lawyer after the incident. The lawyer will inform you about the rights that you can get because of the incident. Generally, the lawyer will tell you to gather the whole evidence that relates to your personal injury.
2. Gathering the evidence
The evidence that supports the claim will help you to process the claim insurance. Hence, you may have to collect them all. The more supportive the evidence, the higher the compensation that you can get from the insurance. The proof can be video or witnessed by other people.
3. Settlement option
There are two kinds of personal injury claim insurance settlements that you should know. If you are going to court, the case of compensation is decided by the jury. If the settlement is outside the court, the amount of settlement will be based on the agreed value in policies.
If you choose the settlement outside the court, you should be more aggressive because the sum of money you get may not be satisfying to cover the damage and injury. The next step may be filing a lawsuit to protect your rights and care for your injury.
The Limitations in Personal Injury Claims
1. The limit of coverage
You should understand that the limit in personal injury claim is limited. If the expense that you have spent before is higher than the limit, you won’t be able to get full reimbursement from the insurer. The insurer also calculates the compensation with liability.
2. The law
The law in the States can be the factor why the limitation will apply in insurance claims. Usually, the law will only allow the person to claim the economic damage. The punitive and non-economic damages cannot be covered by the insurer.
3. The process
The process of claim has some limitations too. When you contact the insurer to do personal injury insurance claim settlements, they may tell you to contact a third party instead of reimbursing your claim. If this case happens to you, you need to be more aggressive.
4. Negotiation takes too long
In case you face personal injury because of a personal accident where no one saw you and harmed you in many ways, the negotiation with the insurer may take too long. You need to consult with a lawyer to settle this issue because the insurer may never pay you.
How to Successfully Claim the Personal Injury Insurance
1. Straightforward about the case
If you are straightforward with your agent or customer service from the insurance company, it will be easier and faster to claim the insurance. The adjuster usually has known that kind of story almost every day. Be honest with the fact why you get that personal injury.
2. Persistent with the claim
Being persistent is the key to getting your insurance claim. If the agent tells you that you need to wait for a period of time, ask them when they will contact you again. You can call them back to follow up on your claim.
3. Organize yourself
After you contact the organizer, you may have some suggestions from them about what to do and what to not do. It is a helpful conversation to make sure that your claim will be going well in the future. Take note of what they say and obey their rules.
4. Take patience with you
It is important to be patient. The insurers need time to calculate the damages you suffer that cause personal injury. You shouldn’t offer the amount of money but them. Let them give the offer first, then you negotiate with them.
The case of personal injury insurance claim settlements is unique because you need proof to be evidence. If the case has some issues, the settlement should involve lawyers to make it easier and more practical.