Legal Question in Personal Injury in Wisconsin

Re: ready to settle

As a general rule, injured people recover more compensation with a lawyer than doing it alone. The insurance company is trying to get out of a bad situation as cheaply as possible. It is usually easier for an insurance company to get a low settlement with a person who is not represented by a lawyer than with a person who is represented by a lawyer. I do not believe that the insurance company will pay the same money to your husband without a lawyer as it would be forced to pay if your husband had a lawyer representing him. In determining what constitutes fair compensation for a particular claim, a person looks at the medical expenses incurred, the impairment of earning capacity, if any, the nature, severity, and duration of the injuries, and considers how the injuries impacted the person's life. Lawyers who practice personal injury law on behalf of injured people usually have a pretty good idea of what constitutes fair compensation for a particular claim. As you probably know, the statute of limitations for filing a personal injury lawsuit is three years from the date of injury. Keep that deadline in mind as you and your husband continue to pursue your claims.

Re: ready to settle

The truth is you will never know if that statement from the insurance co. employee is true or not. I do know that in the past Allstate's Claims Manual stated that those represented by personal injury attorneys settle claims for 2.5-3.5 times more than those who do not have personal injury attorneys. I also know that you almost always need a personal injury attorney handling a Wisconsin case. Insurance adjusters are professionals against you and work hard to keep you from hiring a lawyer. They will pay you as little as possible and want you to do-it-yourself because they know you do not know the law and they can mislead you. I have heard many stories from clients about how an adjuster mislead them about the law and what damages are recoverable. There are also other issues that the insurer won't deal with that you need to including issues like subrogation and underinsured motorist coverage. Nearly every Wisconsin personal injury case involves a form of subrogation, lien rights or reimbursement of bills and this puts your rights up against your health insurers, Medicare and/or Medicaid. It is crucial that this is dealt with on your behalf and since insurers don't work for you, they don't deal with that.