Negotiating with Insurance Companies

As a personal injury attorney, I spend a lot of time negotiating with insurance companies. I was recently on the phone with a lawyer for a big insurance company. Before I filed the lawsuit, they made a low-ball offer. I didn’t accept and they were calling me to see if I would “be reasonable” and settle the case. We did alot of negotiating back-and-forth.

Eventually, we were able to come within about two-thousand dollars. The insurance attorney argued I should take it. I remember him asking, “What’s two-thousand dollars in the grand scheme of things?”

“Two-thousand dollars isn’t much to your company, but it’s a lot to my client,” I told him. I continued to argue for my client. I wouldn’t budge. They made threats. They jumped up and down. They said the offer was going away and would never be put back on the table.

The day they had to answer the complaint, they called and accepted my offer. When it comes to negotiating with insurance companies, you have to stick to your guns, believe in your case and be passionate about your argument.