The first is your state's insurance department. Every state has a Department, Commissioner, or Bureau of Insurance that is in charge of keeping an eye on what Insurance Claims Adjusters and their bosses do. Each one has a Consumer Complaint Division. If the adjuster you've been working with has refused to make any offer, acted in a way you think is unethical, or made what you think is a ridiculously low offer, you have reason to file a complaint.
If you say you're going to complain to the State Department of Insurance, the adjuster might change his or her mind and give you a better deal. Adjusters would rather not have to deal with complaints, and they definitely don't want copies of them to end up in their personnel file.
Taking your problem to the State Insurance Department will do more than one thing. First, his boss will now know that there is a claimant who is willing to do anything to get some money from a settlement. That will usually make that person want to look into your case more and make you a better offer. Also, if you do write to the Consumer Complaints Division, it will cost you because a complaint with the State Insurance Department will add an extra layer of work that will be supervised by an extra group of people. When they figure out that this is likely to happen, they'll try harder to get rid of you and pay out your claim.
Most insurance adjusters hope to be promoted to a higher position within the company they work for one day. They are well aware that if their personnel file has letters from claimants they've helped as well as copies of letters sent to the insurance commissioner, those letters will be read by a company executive at some point in the future. Most of the time, this will be a man who doesn't want a "Problem" claims employee sputtering, splashing, and crashing around his office, giving him headaches and giving him more work to do. The adjuster knows that these kinds of complaints will keep him on the road forever and will make it impossible for him to move up in the company.
OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES THAT THE JUDGE KNOWS ABOUT
When it comes to how things actually work in personal injury claim negotiations and settlements, the "formal law" is often very different from how things are done in real life. That is, the theory of law as it is written and is supposed to work. Simply put, this means that adjusters can settle a case, whether or not their decision is based on "The Law."
In the real world of personal injury settlements, a "Compromise" is the norm, even though it often has little to do with "The Law." Most people in business agree (because it makes their jobs easier) that there's almost always a chance of negligence on both sides, not just one. In practise, this means that almost no claim is without merit or completely worthless, even if the "value" is just to "get rid of it," no matter what the law says. "How does Dan Baldyga know that this is the case?" ANSWER: "Because he worked for more than 30 years as an Insurance Adjuster, Supervisor, Manager, and then Trial Assistant. He's been there and seen that for himself."
Even though it's never told to him "officially," every adjuster quickly learns that if your case goes to court, compromise will usually be the norm, even if liability isn't clear. Just because of this, he has a lot of room to make a deal with you before your case goes to his defence lawyer, where a deal like this is usually made anyway. Why is this going to happen? Because the costs of getting ready for and then fighting in court will go through the roof.
Every adjuster is always thinking about this and trying to figure out how to deal with it. Don't give up if there's any doubt about who caused the accident you were in. Keep pounding away! When dealing with a determined claimant who is willing to wait and negotiate and won't leave, the adjuster will probably make an offer at some point.
This happens because the adjuster doesn't want it to end up as a complaint at the State Department Of Insurance, especially if your claim is worth something. Plus, he knows that you'll be given a settlement offer at some point. So, it would be better for him to settle it now, before the cost of defending it gets out of hand.
Insurance adjusters who want to move up the corporate ladder must be very careful and work hard to please their bosses if they want to keep looking good, especially to those who watch their progress and how they deal with the outside pressures that affect everyone. If you can figure this out, it will almost certainly help your money.
