Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
You’ve been involved in a car accident and suffered significant fractures. You broke
a number of bones and now you’re in the hospital for a few weeks and now you have
to go through physical therapy and rehabilitation to get back up on your feet to do your daily
activities. But now you don’t want to hire an attorney. You want to know can you negotiate
your case – on your own – with the insurance adjuster. Would you like to learn the answer?
Come join me as I share with you the answer. Hi. I’m Gerry Oginski. I’m a New York
medical malpractice and personal injury trial attorney practicing law here in the state
of New York. The answer is of course you can negotiate on your own. You don’t have to
hire an attorney. But before you do that, I have to ask you a number of questions. I
have to ask you whether you do this on a regular, daily basis because if you don’t you may
want to reconsider whether or not to do this on your own. You see the insurance adjuster
does this on a daily basis and they have a particular agenda. Their agenda is to save
the insurance company a whole bunch of money. And they’re going to do everything possible
to make sure you get the least amount of money to compensate you for your injuries. Now,
unless you know all the tricks of the trade in trying to address all the excuses they’ll
come up with, you’re going to be at a significant disadvantage when you negotiate with the insurance
company. I know what you’re saying. You’re saying, you know what, I don’t want to hire
an attorney. I heard they have expenses that I have to pay back. I heard they take a third
of the fee; I don’t want to give up that third. Well the reality is you don’t have
to and you can try to negotiate your case on your own. But let me ask you these questions.
How do you know what the value of your case is, first of all? Your injuries are going
to affect you differently than let’s say a 22 year old or even an 85 year old. Besides
the obvious damages that you may have about not being able to go to work for a period
of time, what’s your pain and suffering worth? Where will you bring your lawsuit?
Do you know the differences between bringing a case in Brooklyn in Kings County compared
to Westchester County compared to Nassau County compared to New York County? How do you know
what your pain and suffering is worth and how do you know the full extent of your injuries
and whether or not you’re going to need treatment in the future? Have you spoken to
your treating doctors? Your treating orthopedist or anybody else involved in your care? Hiring
an experienced attorney to represent you in your accident case may ultimately get you
a greater amount of money than you may have obtained on your own. And after the attorney’s
fee, you may still wind up with a greater amount of money than you would have had you
done this on your own. So why do I share this information with you? I share it with you
just to give you an idea and an understanding into the process that goes on during the negotiation
phase in trying to deal with an insurance adjuster on your own. In all likelihood, you
have questions and concerns about your own accident matter. And if your matter happened
here in the state of New York, what I encourage you to do is pick up the phone and call me.
I answer legal questions like yours every single day. You can reach me at 516-487-8207
or by email at lawmed10@yahoo.com. I’m Gerry Oginski, here in New York. Thanks so much
for watching.