Negotiation Rules: Balancing Patience and Persistence...

One of the most critical negotiation rules to remember when negotiating insurance settlements is to be patient and persistent. You need your personal injury settlement so you can go on with your life. Compensation has to make up for your losses.

The effect of those losses may have already disrupted your life to a large degree. However there's no way to tell how long insurance negotiations will take. It could be weeks, months or even years.

Unfortunately, there's really no way to rush your settlement. If everything goes as planned, you don't break any negotiation rules or hit any bumps in the road, the process should go pretty quickly.

But you can't really control insurance settlement negotiations. It all depends on what kind of accident you had and the circumstances surrounding it.

You want the money now.

You need the money now.

But you usually can't get the money now.

The fact you have to live with is this: patience is the key to successful negotiations with the claim adjuster. Before writing your letter, before making your phone call and before saying anything rash, you need to absorb the traits of patience and persistence.

Be prepared to be patient. It's the first, most important of the negotiating rules for personal injury settlement claims. The claim adjuster may take a while to process your injury claim. They'll need time to collect facts, calculate damages, and decide what to do with your claim.

You also have to be patient in your ongoing communications. The claim adjuster is not necessarily going to see things your way just because you explained your reasoning. Forcing your logic won't help. You've got to be willing to let the claim adjuster give in at their own pace.

However, pursuing your personal injury settlement at a tolerant pace doesn't mean you have to sit back, do nothing and just wait.

Another key negotiation rule is to be persistent.

In your conversations with your insurance claim adjuster, you have to allow a realistic time frame to accomplish things. You don't want to rush him, but you're not going to give him all the time in the world either.

Your attitude when dealing with the insurance adjuster should convey that you understand time is needed to make things happen, but you won't accept your claim being put on hold.

If you don't hear from the adjuster as promised, or it's been a couple weeks since your last communication, negotiation rules state it's okay to call or write a note. You want to politely remind the adjuster that you're waiting.

To be patient and persistent at the same time means that, above all, you must be organized.

Getting the highest possible personal injury settlement award requires that you have all your information clear, on paper and in your head.

This will help you feel more calm and in control when dealing with the adjuster. You won't get frustrated by trying to remember or find the information you need. The last thing the adjuster wants to deal with is someone who's disorganized in their responses and aggravated in their tone.

When you're organized you can make your argument, let them respond and then move forward to the next step. Being organized is a critical personal injury negotiation rule and will help your claim go smoothly.