False Assumption - 3. The property damage estimate is accurate because a professional adjuster looked at my car
Posted Saturday, July 21, 2007 by Ed Harper
The property damage estimate is accurate because a professional adjuster looked at my car.
Property damage is the proof of two or more vehicles colliding. Having an accurate recording of the damage to the cars may have a bearing on how seriously the insurance company takes your claim. The insurance estimate is merely the document which the adjuster provides to their company in order to pay for the damage.
The property damage adjuster is an experienced evaluator who often works for the adversarial insurance company. His or her job is to get your claim resolved in a manner that helps the insurance company by saving them money. The adjuster may even try to steer you to a repair shop of their choosing. This is done to ensure the work is performed for as little money as possible. The repair shop benefits by having repeat business from the insurance company.
Additionally, the property damage adjuster may only provide a visual inspection of your vehicle. To obtain the estimate, the bumper may not even be taken off, and the adjuster may not even look inside your trunk. Both of these are areas where property damage often occurs but goes un-repaired.
Over the last 10 or 15 years, vehicles have been constructed in such as manner as to minimize the damage to the vehicles structure. The idea of a 10 mile per hour bumper is to reduce the structural damage to the vehicle. It does not assist in reducing the forces exerted on the occupants. The biomechanical forces exerted on your body in a rear end collision are not measurable by the amount of the property damage. Insurance companies pigeonhole certain claims as low-impact collisions, and they place a limit on how much they pay on these claims.
At Harper Law PLLC, we often recommend that our clients obtain a second opinion, even if the property damage has been repaired. This second opinion allows the injured person to have an independent view of the property damage. This allows us to prove the force of the collision was greater in severity than what the insurance adjuster wants you to believe.
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