Why You Should Never Accept The First Offer

Why you should never accept the first offer from an insurance company immediately after a car accident. The insurance adjuster calls you a few days after your car accident. They sound friendly, sympathetic even. They tell you they reviewed the claim, they understand what you’re going through, and they want to get this resolved quickly for you. Then they offer you a number. Maybe it’s $1,000, maybe it’s $2,000, maybe it’s even $3,000, and they make it sound like a reasonable starting point.

Here’s what I need you to understand before you say a single word back to them: that number was never calculated to be fair to you. That number was calculated to close your file as cheaply and as quickly as possible. I’m Adam Smallow. I’ve been representing car accident victims in Maryland for over 20 years, and in that time, I’ve watched insurance companies make lowball offers disgusting lowball offers to injured people immediately after their car accidents over and over and over again. Today, I’m going to show you exactly why they do it, what the research says about how much you’re leaving on the table, and what you should do instead.

Here’s the truth about that first offer immediately after a car accident: the auto insurance companies are part of a billion-dollar business. Their job is not to take care of you. Their job is to protect their bottom line, and the way they do that is simple: make an offer fast before you understand the full value of your claim, and hope you take it. They call it early settlement; I call it a trap.

Here’s why the timing matters so much: in the days and first weeks after a car crash, you don’t know how serious your injuries really are or the amount of treatment that you’re going to need. What feels like a sore neck today might turn out to be a herniated disc that may or may not require surgery. What feels like headaches may be a concussion or traumatic brain injury. What feels like soreness in your back might become chronic pain that affects your ability to work and provide for your family. Insurance companies know this, and they are counting on you to accept their offer before the full picture of your injuries comes into focus. Once you sign that release, it doesn’t matter what happens next. Your back gets worse, you need surgery, you can’t return to work or perform the duties that you could before the accident doesn’t matter. You signed the release, the case is closed, and you get nothing more.

Hot off the presses, we had to edit this video this morning when I saw that this came in. This is an example of an insurance company continuing to chase injured victims even when they have representation. Immediate settlement offers have been around for decades, but now the insurance companies are continuing to pursue and try to blow up injury claims after the victim has signed with a lawyer for representation. Several weeks after this wonderful client retained us, we got this. They won’t stop these bad faith tactics until you hire a law firm to stop them dead in their tracks.

The research is staggering, and let me share some numbers with you because I think this will make it real. The Insurance Research Council, which is the insurance industry’s own research group, conducted a major study on this, and what they found should make every accident victim pay attention: people who hired an attorney to handle their injury claim received settlements nearly three and a half times higher than people who handled their claim on their own. Three and a half times let that sink in. Same kinds of accidents, same kinds of injuries the difference? Whether or not they had a lawyer in their corner.
And here’s the part people always ask me: “Adam, doesn’t the attorney’s fee eat up all that difference?” No. Even after attorney’s fees, the research shows you still walk away with significantly more money than you would have gotten alone. The math is not even close. Why do attorneys get more? It’s not magic, it’s not intimidation it’s knowledge, experience, preparation, and strategy.

When an insurance adjuster talks to you directly, they know you don’t know what your case is worth. They know you don’t know what future medical expenses may account for. They know you don’t know how to calculate lost earning capacity if your injury affects your ability to work. They know you don’t know how to document pain and suffering and impact on life in a way that holds up in negotiations. And they know you can’t file a lawsuit and successfully navigate the court system towards a settlement or verdict. They have a number in their system, they know what the case is worth, and they’re offering you a fraction of it.

When you have an attorney, the dynamic changes completely. The file goes from a low-level adjuster reading off a computer-generated prompt to a more senior adjuster who knows what a Maryland jury may actually award at the end of the day. They know we know, and that changes their offer.

But not all attorneys get a lot more for their clients. There are plenty of law firms that just put your case on an assembly line like they’re making a burger at a fast food restaurant. Same accident injury centers, same treatment, quick process irrespective of the severity of the injured victim’s injuries basically same ingredients and same burger every time. And those attorneys will still get you more than if you attempt to handle this on your own. However, the lawyers who plan their cases around quality medical care, communicate thoroughly with their clients, and are prepared to file a lawsuit in every single case that comes through their doors in order to maximize settlements well, now you’re cooking. These are the settlements that represent the full value of our clients’ injuries and the impact those injuries had on their lives.

The Maryland factor: now I need to add something specific to anyone watching this in Maryland. Maryland is one of only a handful of states with what’s called contributory negligence. That means if the insurance company can prove you were even 1% at fault for the accident, you can potentially receive nothing. Not less nothing. This is why accepting a quick settlement in Maryland can be especially dangerous. A fast offer might look good on the surface, but buried in the fine print there may be an admission that you share some fault. Once you sign, you’ve accepted those terms. You need someone who knows Maryland law to review every word before you agree to anything.

Here’s what you should do instead:
Number one: don’t say a word to the insurance company about accepting or declining anything. You can acknowledge the call, you can say you’re considering your options, but don’t agree to anything.

Number two: get medical treatment immediately if you haven’t already. Your health comes first, and your medical diagnosis and records are the foundation of your claim.

Number three: write down everything you remember about the accident while it’s still fresh the road conditions, the time of day, what happened in the moments before the crash, what you said, what the other driver said.

Number four: talk to an attorney before you respond to any offer. At Adam Smallow Injury Lawyers, the consultation is free. You don’t owe us anything to sit down and understand what your claim is actually worth.

The bottom line: the first offer from the insurance company is not a gift, it’s not generosity it is a calculated business decision designed to protect their money, not to protect you. The research proves it, the numbers prove it: people who get an attorney get more money, period. If you’ve been in an accident in Maryland and the insurance company has already called you, do not respond to that offer yet. Call Adam Smallow Injury Lawyers first. We’ll tell you exactly what your case is worth, and we’ll fight to make sure you get it.