How you act during settlement negotiations can go a long way toward making the process run smoothly and quickly, with a minimum of stress or aggravation for you, and with a satisfying settlement as the result. Here are some of the basic rules about dealing with a claims Adjuster.

Be Organized

If you follow the steps mapped out elsewhere in this section on injury settlements, you will already be organized when you begin the negotiation process. Keep up the habits you’ve already developed.

For example, if you have a conversation with the adjuster, make a note of what was said. If either you or the adjuster have said that you will or will not do a certain thing, or that something is to occur by a certain date, write a confirming letter and send it to the adjuster

Keep a copy of everything you send. If you have agreed to provide the adjuster with information, do it promptly.

Be Patient

Although you may have already had to wait a considerable amount of time to get all your medical and income records, try not to be in too great a hurry to settle your claim. One of the tactics claims adjusters use is to make a low initial settlement offer and see if you are too impatient to continue negotiating. If you can stand to wait, do not jump at a first offer. Holding off for a little while often increases your settlement amount. After some time passes, it will be the adjuster who will want to settle your claim as soon as possible, and then you will be able to get the full value of your claim.

Be Persistent

The flip side of being patient is being persistent. Don’t let the adjuster sit on your claim. If the adjuster has said that he or she will do something — make you another offer, or check with a supervisor — get a specific date by which it will be done. Put everything agreed upon in a confirming letter, and when that date rolls around, call and politely demand a response. If you have asked for information or for a new settlement offer, set a reasonable deadline by which you would like the response. Don’t pester an adjuster by calling every day, but make sure the adjuster knows you are out there and that you will be regularly and thoroughly following up on your claim.

Be Calm and Straightforward

Insurance adjusters are overworked and underpaid, and they hear a lot of stories every day. They are also human, which means they don’t respond well to abuse or to hysterics. Even if you get an inconsiderate or unsympathetic adjuster, keep your cool and don’t get into a personal battle; there are other and better ways to deal with an uncooperative adjuster.

Your job is simply to show the adjuster that you know how the process works and that your claim is an honest one. Let the adjuster know you believe in the facts you have presented. Avoid high emotions. If you show the adjuster you are making a good-faith claim, you will likely get a good-faith settlement offer in return.

When it comes to people who may have witnessed the accident or incident that led to your injury and can vouch for your version of what happened, simply mentioning in your demand letter that you have such supporting witnesses may be enough to convince the insurance company that you can prove the other side was at fault. This is particularly true if you have directly quoted from or sent a written Witness statement along with your demand letter.

When the Claims Adjuster Wants to Know Your Witnesses

However, an insurance adjuster may ask you for the names and addresses of your witnesses to speak with them directly. It makes no sense at this point for you to refuse to identify a witness you have already told the insurance company about. Refusing to give the insurance company the name and address of a witness, or refusing to ask the witness to contact the insurance company, will appear to be an unreasonable lack of cooperation. That will create suspicion and lack of cooperation on the insurance company’s part, and will also completely undercut the value of having the witness. If you won’t let the insurance company verify what the witness says, the insurance company isn’t going to be very impressed that you have such a witness.

If, When, and Where to Talk is Usually Up to the Witness

A witness who does not want to speak to an insurance company does not have to — not unless there is a formal lawsuit with subpoenas issued by a court. And if a witness has instructed you not to give out his or her identity to the insurance company, tell that to the adjuster. However, if a witness refuses to speak to the adjuster, the adjuster is probably not going to give much weight to what the witness claims to have seen, which makes that witness almost useless for the negotiation process.

A witness who agrees to speak with the insurance company has the right to control where, when, and how that contact takes place. A witness can exercise control in the following ways:

• The witness can contact the adjuster rather than having his or her phone number given out.

• The witness can decline to give a written statement.

• The witness does not have to be interviewed in person.

• The witness does not have to permit the interview to be recorded. (It’s usually in your best interest if the interview is not recorded, for the same reasons you wouldn’t want your own conversations with an adjuster to be recorded.)

• The witness does not have to sign any statement drawn up by the adjuster.

• The witness does not have to return to the scene with the adjuster or anyone else.

• The witness does not have to give any more personal information than he or she wants to.

• Once the witness speaks with the adjuster, the witness does not have to speak with anyone else from the insurance company or to repeat the conversation with the adjuster.

Even though a witness is not legally obligated to speak with the adjuster, you are not permitted to instruct the witness not to speak with the insurance company. That would improperly interfere with the company’s right to gather evidence. You can discuss with the witness what is important in the case and stress the points you would like him or her to make clear to the adjuster, but you cannot tell the witness what to say or not say. It is certainly all right for the witness to tell the adjuster that you and the witness have discussed the accident, but the witness should be able to tell the adjuster in all honesty that you have not tried to tell the witness what he or she must say.

Ask the Adjuster for the Other Side’s Witnesses

If the adjuster asks you to identify your witnesses, ask that the adjuster do the same for you (it’s the old “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours” routine). If the adjuster denies knowing any witnesses, write a letter confirming that. If the adjuster refuses to discuss or identify witnesses, write a letter confirming the refusal and state that since the adjuster refuses, you must also refuse to reveal your witnesses.

If the adjuster gives you the identities of witnesses you did not previously know about, do not depend on the adjuster’s version of what the witness says. Contact them directly and get their story straight from them. You may be pleasantly surprised to discover that the witness does not support the other side’s version of events nearly as strongly as the adjuster claims.