Help the Adjuster Set the Reserves, Help Yourself Settle the Case
I'm at the WILG Convention and listening to a great presentation by Jeff Wehe. Jeff is an insurance adjuster with 12 years experience and currently independently evaluates cases. Here's some of Jeff's advice:
Insurance adjusters have to set their reserves early. Typically they have to have the reserves set at 75% of the final value within 30 days and at least 90% of the final value of the case within 90 days. The more information you can provide the adjuster, earlier in the process the easier you make it for the adjuster.
Why should you help the adjuster?
Because they're the ones with the money. Helping the insurance adjuster can make the difference between whether your case settles or not.
Provide Information as Early as Possible
I used to put together a great demand package. Complete with a detailed demand letter, incident report, detailed breakdown of the medical bills and all of the medical records. We would also include any supporting information that was needed, future costs workups, IME's, vocational reports, lost wages information, plus any witness statements that would be helpful. We pulled together all of the information that we would need to go to trial and presented it in one complete, tabbed, indexed demand package. Very thorough, very professional and totally the wrong way to go.
Right now, we're providing information to the adjusters as we go along. If there is going to be surgery or a lot of treatment, we let the adjuster know that up front. Before it happens. A short letter to the effect of "We anticipate that Joe will require a hip replacement surgery. We will update you as soon as Joe has the treatment and we receive the records".
We also update the adjuster as we get the information in. For example "Here are the medical records for Joe. With his injuries, we anticipate that he will have a significant impairment rating, extensive future medical costs and a serious vocational impairment. It is my guess that he will have an whole person impairment rating of at least fifteen percent, future medical costs of at least $200,000 and loss of earning capacity of at least $175,000. We will forward these reports as we receive them".
Why Update The Adjuster So Much?
The adjuster has to set her reserves based on what she thinks the case is worth. The reserves are often set within the first 30 days before much is known about the case. If you have a $150,000 case that is legitimately a $150,000 case and it's well documented, but the adjuster has her reserves set at $50,000, it makes it hard for the adjuster to settle the case.
Do you know what the number one criteria is for insurance adjusters for their performance reviews? The number one criteria is how well their settlements match their reserves. So what can you do to help? Give information to the adjuster. Give them as much information as possible to evaluate the claim as early as possible. Each step of the way, each touch allows them to re-evaluate the claim and determine how much your client's claim is worth.
How do you think it looks to the adjuster's boss if she's been telling him for a year to a year and a half that the case was worth $50,000 and then upon review of your super-duper tabbed, indexed, documented demand package she realizes that it's a $150,000 case. What is her boss going to say "If it's worth $150,000, how come you've been telling me for a year and a half that it's worth $50,000? Don't you know your cases? Don't you know your job?"
Help the adjuster by letting them see the true value of the case early on. You're going to be sending the information to them anyways. Get it to them early.
