You were injured in a car crash. The adjuster calling expresses concern, promises a quick resolution, and sounds helpful. Don’t be fooled. Consulting a Newnan injury lawyer often reveals that the first offers represent a fraction of the true case value.
Insurance adjusters rely on injured people accepting inadequate amounts without realizing what they’re entitled to receive.
Identifying their tactics protects your rights, and knowing true claim value prevents accepting inadequate settlements.
The Business Model Behind Low Offers
Insurance companies aren’t charities. Two things to remember about them:
- Many are publicly traded
- Or are answerable to owners/investors who expect profitability
They are for-profit businesses. This means that their first priority isn’t the injured person. Not you. But themselves.
Revenue comes from premiums. Policyholders pay monthly or annual amounts for coverage. Those payments fund insurance company operations and generate investment returns.
Expenses come from claim payouts. Every accident claim paid reduces profits. Lower payouts mean higher earnings. Adjusters may be incentivized around claim costs and timelines, which can create pressure to settle for less.
The system rewards reducing what accident victims receive.
Recognizing Common Manipulation Tactics
Adjusters use specific strategies designed to minimize payouts. Spotting these protects you from accepting inadequate settlements.
1. Pushing for Immediate Decisions
Phone calls start within days of collisions. The adjuster sounds sympathetic and eager to help. Then comes the settlement offer.
Before you’ve finished medical treatment or know the full extent of injuries.
Problems with early settlements:
- Future medical needs remain unknown
- Additional surgeries may become necessary
- Permanent limitations haven’t manifested yet
- Long-term disability impacts can’t be assessed
- Future lost wages haven’t been calculated
Signing releases bars future claims. Once you accept money and release the at-fault party, additional compensation becomes impossible.
Even if injuries prove far worse than initially apparent.
2. Requesting Recorded Conversations
“We just need a recorded statement to process your claim.” This sounds routine and harmless. It’s neither.
Insurance companies use recordings to build cases against you:
- Catch contradictions between statements
- Get admissions about any fault on your part
- Capture minimizations of injury severity
- Create ammunition for denial or reduction
Georgia law doesn’t require giving recorded statements to the other driver’s insurer. Decline politely and refer questions to your attorney.
3. Challenging Medical Necessity
Adjusters aren’t doctors, yet they question treatment decisions regularly.
Common arguments:
- Treatment exceeded what the injuries required – They claim you received unnecessary care
- You’ve recovered completely – They dismiss ongoing pain and limitations
- Old injuries caused current problems – They blame pre-existing conditions
- Treatment gaps indicate minor injuries – They ignore legitimate reasons for delayed care
Your physicians determine medically necessary treatment. Insurance adjusters have no medical training or expertise to override those decisions.
4. Exploiting Georgia’s Fault Rules
OCGA § 51-12-33 bars recovery if you’re 50% or more responsible for the accident. Below 50%, your compensation gets reduced by your fault percentage.
Insurance companies weaponize this law:
- Claim you drove too fast (without proof)
- Argue that distraction caused the collision
- Suggest an improper following distance
- Allege failure to yield the right-of-way properly
If they convince anyone that you bear 30% responsibility for a car accident in Georgia, they reduce your payout by 30%. Finding you 50% at fault eliminates compensation entirely.
5. Stalling Until Desperation Sets In
Time favors insurers. Medical bills pile up. Lost paychecks create financial emergencies. Injured people grow desperate for money.
Delay tactics include:
- Demanding the same documents repeatedly
- Claiming submitted paperwork “wasn’t received”
- Assigning new adjusters who start investigations over
- Going silent for weeks without responding
- Requiring irrelevant medical records from years ago
These frustrate victims into accepting lowball settlements just to end the ordeal.
How Insurers Undervalue Claims
Understanding calculation methods reveals why offers fall short of fair compensation.
Documented Losses Get Minimized
Even concrete dollar amounts face challenges:
- Medical expenses
- Adjusters question treatment necessity, claim procedures cost too much, or argue certain care wasn’t required.
- They count only past bills while ignoring future treatment needs.
- Lost income
- They demand excessive employment documentation, question missed work days, or ignore reduced earning capacity from permanent injuries.
- Vehicle damage
- They use depreciated valuations, argue that pre-existing damage reduced the car value, or offer lowball repair estimates.
Intangible Harms Get Dismissed
Pain and suffering, emotional trauma, and diminished life quality lack receipts. Insurance companies exploit this:
- Offering zero for non-economic damages initially
- Using minimal multipliers (1.5x instead of 3-5x economic losses)
- Dismissing psychological impacts as insignificant
- Claiming injuries will “heal soon”
Georgia personal injury law recognizes these genuine harms. Securing appropriate payment requires skilled negotiation.
Computer Programs Replace Human Judgment
Large insurers use software that generates settlement offers. These systems:
- Process only basic claim information
- Ignore unique case circumstances
- Default to minimum reasonable valuations
- Cannot assess pain and suffering accurately
- Produce numbers designed to minimize costs
Algorithms serve insurance company interests, not injured victims.
Warning Signs Your Offer Is Too Low
Insurance companies sometimes make settlement offers that sound reasonable but actually fall short of what your claim is worth. Here are the most common red flags:
- The offer came within days of your accident
- It only covers medical bills; it does nothing for lost wages, pain, or future treatment
- The adjuster won’t explain how they calculated the amount
- You’re still receiving medical care
- They’re pressuring you with “final offer” deadlines
If you’re seeing these warning signs, don’t rush into accepting. Take time to understand what your claim is actually worth.
Georgia Statutes Protect Injured People
Filing Deadline Creates Urgency
OCGA § 9-3-33 requires personal injury lawsuits to be filed within two years from the accident date. This statute creates genuine deadlines.
Once two years pass, claims lose all value regardless of merit. Anyone injured in an accident in Georgia needs legal consultation well before this deadline.
Comparative Fault Rules Allow Partial Recovery
OCGA § 51-12-33 permits recovery if you’re less than 50% responsible. Insurance companies often misstate this law, suggesting that any fault bars compensation.
Know your rights. Someone 20% at fault can still recover 80% of the total damages. Partial responsibility doesn’t eliminate claims.
Bad Faith Protections Exist
Under OCGA § 33-4-6 and OCGA §§ 33-6-30 through 33-6-37, insurers must handle claims properly. Prohibited practices include:
- Misrepresenting policy provisions
- Failing to investigate thoroughly
- Delaying without a reasonable basis
- Refusing to pay clearly valid claims
- Not attempting a good-faith settlement
Victims facing improper handling have legal options beyond the original injury claim.
Protecting Your Rights After Collisions
Smart actions following accidents preserve your ability to seek full compensation. Below are practical things you should do right away:
Gather comprehensive documentation:
- Photograph the scene damage from multiple angles
- Collect witness names and contact information
- Document injuries as they develop
- Preserve all medical bills and records
- Keep employment records showing lost work
- Note how injuries impact daily activities
Strong evidence counters insurance company challenges.
Minimize adjuster communication:
- Report accidents as required, but limit details shared
- Provide only basic facts like:
- When and where the collision occurred
- Vehicles involved in the crash
- Police report number if applicable
Direct detailed questions to your attorney.
Review documents before signing anything. Insurers send forms requesting broad authorizations for:
- Complete medical history access
- Full employment records
- Personal financial information
These seek information to deny claims. Have legal counsel review documents first.
Get a medical evaluation immediately. Some injuries develop symptoms days after crashes. Early medical records counter arguments that injuries weren’t serious or weren’t accident-related.
Decline hasty settlements. Reject early offers politely. Explain you’re still treating and don’t know the full damages yet. You control the timeline within the statute of limitations.
When Legal Representation Becomes Essential
Certain situations demand attorney involvement from the start. Said situations may include:
- Severe injuries requiring extensive care – Insurance companies fight these claims hardest
- Liability remains disputed – When fault isn’t clear or insurance companies blame you, legal representation becomes necessary
- Multiple parties were involved – Truck accidents, multi-car pileups, and cases involving businesses create complex liability issues
- The insurer won’t negotiate reasonably – Unreasonably low offers, claim delays, or outright denials signal the need for attorney involvement
- Requests for recorded statements or broad authorizations arrive – These indicate the insurance company is building defenses against your claim
Whether it’s one or all of the scenarios mentioned, attorney protection becomes critical.
Securing Appropriate Compensation
Recognizing manipulation tactics helps resist lowball offers. Understanding Georgia law ensures you don’t forfeit rights through misinformation.
Legal representation creates balance. Experienced attorneys like J. Ryan Brown Law understand adjuster tactics, calculate accurate claim values, and negotiate from strength.
Let them handle insurance companies while you heal.
