Insurance adjusters are not your friends. That is not personal. It is structural. Their job is to close claims for the lowest amount the company can defend. Yours is to recover what you actually need. The conflict is built into the relationship.
Here are the tactics I see most often in California injury claims, drawn from years of negotiating against carriers on both sides of the table.
The fast offer
The adjuster calls within 48 to 72 hours of the crash. Friendly tone. Sympathy. An offer, often between 1,000 and 5,000 dollars, sometimes called a "goodwill payment" or "to cover your inconvenience." Sign here.
The offer comes with a release of all claims. Once you sign, the case is over. Whatever surgery you need in six months, whatever ongoing pain you are dealing with in a year, you have already settled for the price of a used couch.
The fast offer is the single most common trap, and it works because injured people are stressed, in pain, and worried about money. The right answer is always to wait until you know the full extent of your injuries. The reasons why are in what to do after a car accident.
The recorded statement
"We just need a brief recorded statement for our file." It is presented as routine paperwork. What it actually is: an interrogation conducted by a trained adjuster looking for inconsistencies, admissions, and downplaying of injuries that they can use against you for the next two years.
You are under no obligation to give a recorded statement to the other driver's insurer. You can decline politely. The adjuster will sometimes claim that your claim will be "delayed" without it. That is pressure, not law.
The blame shift
Even in clear liability cases, the adjuster will often claim the company's "investigation" shows you were partly at fault. They will assign you a percentage, 20, 30, sometimes 50, and reduce their offer accordingly. The percentage is a negotiating tool, not a finding.
California's pure comparative fault rule does allow your recovery to be reduced for your share of fault, but the percentage is determined by a jury, not by an adjuster's initial impression. The detail is in our piece on understanding comparative negligence.
The medical record cherry pick
Adjusters love a gap in treatment. Six weeks between visits? "She must have gotten better." A trip to urgent care for an unrelated issue? "She didn't mention her neck pain, so it must not have been bothering her." Going to work after the crash? "She wasn't really hurt."
Consistent medical treatment is one of the few things you fully control, and it pays. The reasons are in the importance of medical documentation.
The independent medical exam
At some point in litigation, the defense will demand an "independent medical examination" by a doctor of their choice. The word independent is doing a lot of work. The doctor is paid by the defense, sees plaintiffs only in litigation contexts, and writes reports that consistently find injuries are exaggerated, pre existing, or unrelated to the crash.
You are required to attend, but your lawyer should prepare you, and in many cases attend with you. The defense IME report is not the final word; it is one expert against your treating physicians.
The delay strategy
Some carriers slow walk claims on purpose. They request records that have already been produced. They schedule depositions and cancel them. They take six weeks to respond to a settlement demand. The pressure is psychological. Injured people are running out of money, falling behind on bills, and looking for any settlement that ends the case.
The remedy is having a lawyer with the resources and patience to wait the carrier out. A firm that can afford to litigate for 18 months without pressure is in a fundamentally different negotiating position than a desperate plaintiff.
The structured low ball
Some offers come dressed up as something else. A structured settlement that "pays out for thirty years." Future medical "reimbursement" that runs through the carrier's claims department. These can occasionally make sense, but they often deliver substantially less present value than a lump sum and trade certainty for the carrier's continued involvement in your life.
What protects you
Three things. First, do not communicate with the other driver's insurer directly once you have legal representation. Second, complete your medical treatment before settling. Third, work with a lawyer who is prepared to file suit and try the case. Insurers settle higher when they know the alternative is twelve people in a jury box. The signs that you need that lawyer are in signs you need a personal injury lawyer, and the decisions that drive settlement value are in how to maximize your injury settlement.
For a free, confidential review of a low ball offer or denied claim, reach Allan Movagar through our contact page, or learn more about our practice areas.