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Negotiating Insurance Settlements: It's Not Your Job to Prove
Anything...
When negotiating insurance settlements, you don't have to prove fault
like you would in a formal court
case.
Insurance claims brought before a judge must prove negligence.
If you took your claim to court the burden of proof
would be your responsibility.
You, as the plaintiff, would have to show
proof that the other person, the defendent, was at fault. The defendant
is under no burden to prove they weren’t negligent.
But there's no burden of proof when negotiating insurance settlements.
Your
claim isn't yet a legal matter, you're just working with an
adjuster.
However, preparing for the
possibility of your claim going to court is a good idea. This is why
we've discussed collecting evidence, talking to witnesses and taking
accident photos.
But at this
point, you're just trying to make a
convincing argument to the adjuster.
If
you tell the adjuster that the other party was negligent, you'll shift
the focus from whether or not they are liable to what their liability
will
cost.
Unlike in court, where you'd need proper evidence to support your
story, when negotiating with the
adjuster you don't require
actual
evidence to back you up. Saying the other driver was speeding, didn’t
signal, or was talking on their phone just has to sound likely.
If
the adjuster decides your story is valid, they'll also decide to talk
about reaching a settlement. If
your story seems
capable of proving fault to a judge or jury, the insurance
company will want to settle to avoid the costs of going to court.
Even
when negotiating settlements in defective product cases
things sway in your favor, since there's
still no real burden of proof. Due to something called strict
liability, which we'll discuss later, defective product claims hold
that the insured party is automatically negligent.
Return
from Negotiating Insurance Settlements to Lawsuit
Settlements
Return
from Negotiating Insurance Settlements to the Personal
Injury Settlement Guide
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