After getting injured in some kind of accident, or suffering some kind of injury at work, so much is likely to be going through your head: how am I going to pay for any of this? Who will take care of all of my bills? Will I be able to return to work, and if so, at what level of competence will I be able to perform my job? These are all-natural, important questions to ask. One thing most people don’t think about after an injury, however, is the differences between injury attorneys and insurance companies. Often, people tend to think of them as synonymous, both groups that work for a person to help them get their life back on track after an injury. That is now, however, the case. Our Los Angeles injury attorneys always work for you, unlike someone from the insurance company.
You pay your insurance premiums every month. You probably have a card, or some kind of online form that says your insurance is paid up, so forth and so on. Most of us, when referring to the insurance company we have, as “our insurance company.” It’s natural to think of attorneys as working only for themselves, as doing the bare minimum they can for a person’s case, so that they can collect their fee. Unfortunately, there are attorneys like that out there, particularly in personal injury law. At the LA Injury Group, unlike the insurance companies, we work for you.
The insurance company is designed to make money. It’s a for-profit corporation. There’s nothing wrong with that, per se, it’s just important to keep that in mind when you’re dealing with the insurance company. That profit is the motivation for every interaction you have with the insurance company. If someone from the insurance company tells you that they “want to help you” and “they want you to get the compensation you deserve for this injury” and so forth, that may, on some personal level, be true. But, at the end of the day, they’re still working for the insurance company. So, when compared to you, the insurance company’s profits will always come first.
That’s the opposite of our how our Los Angeles injury attorneys work. Yes, our firm is our job and our livelihood, we are doing this to ultimately make money and have a life. However, we don’t make money in the same way as the insurance company. Their business model is predicated on you not making money, whereas our business model only succeeds when you do. You have to win your case for our law firm to be profitable. That’s just one of the biggest differences between your Los Angeles injury attorneys and the insurance company.
It can be a bit simplistic to say that the insurance company only makes money when you don’t get money. That’s not exactly how it works. When you’re hurt in an accident, the insurance company knows the amount of compensation you deserve for your accident. This number is based on so many factors, not the least of which is experience. They have seen so many accidents like yours, with all of the externalities that yours possess. So, they have a fairly clear idea of what compensation you should be paid for the accident. Their goal, then, is to make sure that you don’t get that number. Specifically, they want to make sure that you get less than that number.
If you do end up getting less compensation than that number, then the insurance company has, for lack of a better term, “won.” It means that they were able to make a profit, so to speak, from your injury. They know what you probably should have gotten, and they got you to take less. That’s a deal for them. It’s one more way that they can get ahead. Most people don’t seem to realize this about insurance companies. If you keep this in mind with each of your dealings with an insurance company, then you should end up all right.
Our law firm, on the other hand, works on an entirely different model. You’ve probably heard, in one TV or radio advertisement or another, how just about every personal injury attorney “only makes money when you do.” That’s how our business model works. If you don’t get compensated for your injuries, then we don’t get paid. Should that occur, then everything that we’ve gone through on your case, from the initial consultation through the investigation, negotiation and more will have been for naught. It is in our best interest to make sure that that never happens. So, we have a strong motivation to make sure that you win, that you get as much compensation for your injuries as possible. That’s an incredibly big difference between a law firm and the insurance companies.
One succeeds when you get less; the other succeeds when you get more. This is reflected in each of our different strategies, as well. For example, someone from the insurance company, a claims adjuster, will have all sorts of different methods by which they seek to get you to take less money. Perhaps the most common of these tactics is to offer you an initial, “low-ball” deal. This will be a sum of money for your injuries that may seem very generous, or if it’s a good deal, but is actually not. This deal with be for much less than your injuries are worth, which is why the insurance claims adjuster will be so positive, upbeat and persuasive about it. They sure can save a lot of money if you sign that quickly.
This is why we always tell people who have been in an injury and have been offered some money by the insurance company to let us look at the deal first. We can tell you whether or not it’s a good deal, and one that’s right for your particular situation. From there, you can make the best decision possible. Even if you don’t trust attorneys, even if you just want to sign that deal to get any money for your injuries, you have to realize that the experts at our firm know more about insurance, injuries, and the law than the average person. We can put that experience to work for you and let you know whether or not the deal is a good one.
It almost never is. That first deal is less a fair offer and simply a negotiating tactic. They want you to sign it and be done with your case. We understand: it’s incredibly tempting to take that first deal because it means that you’ll have one less thing to worry about. Moreover, you’ll have more money in your pocket. But, if you do that, you’ll be leaving so much money on the table that could help you and your family going forward. The road back to health after a personal injury is a hard one, even for those who only suffered a minor injury. Every bit of money helps, particularly for those injuries that are more difficult.
At our law firm, we can help connect you to doctors and other medical professionals who can be paid out of your eventual winnings, too. That way, you don’t have to pay for anything upfront. Instead, you just have to focus on what’s most important: your health and your recovery. Insurance companies’ employees are there for the insurance company. Here at the LA Injury Group, we’re there for you. To set up an initial, free consultation, give us a call at (818) 240-1800. We’ll go over your case, and then determine the best way to get you all of the compensation that you deserve.