The Sick Suspicious Minds of Injury Adjusters

Professional Insights and Ethical Practices

• Many adjusters begin their careers being taught that they need to protect insurance companies from fraudulent claims, which can create an initially skeptical mindset toward claimants.
• To be fair, some adjusters aren’t seeking to deny legitimate claims but rather want to ensure a fair process.
• Nonetheless, most adjusters develop a healthy skepticism after encountering fraudulent claims and it is not too long after they are on the job that they suspect everyone of trying to take advantage of the insurer.
• Common insurance fraud tactics described include:
  • “Jump-ins” (people claiming to be in vehicles during accidents when they weren’t)
  • Falsified medical documents
  • Exaggerated injuries, exaggerated time off work
• Adjusters are supposed to balance protecting company interests while treating legitimate claimants fairly – unfortunately that doesn’t happen most of the time.
• Insurance regulations strictly limit what adjusters can say to unrepresented claimants about attorneys – specifically, they cannot tell you that you don’t need an attorney, that you’ll get the same amount of money without an attorney, or that getting an attorney will take longer or drag out the process
• Adjusters often try to build rapport with unrepresented claimants, they claim that your case can be resolved more efficiently and often for less money without attorney involvement.
• The truth is, bottom line, that with an attorney you will likely get 3-4x more money than if you negotiate directly with an adjuster – this is proven and documented over and over by insurance studies!