Titan, Arizona Farm Bureau, Farmers, Ameriprise, and State Farm are among the automobile insurance providers which make policies available to drivers in Phoenix. Every Phoenix driver is required to have certain minimum insurance coverage in order to be allowed to drive his vehicle.

Motorists have to buy bodily injury liability and property damage liability coverage in the amount of $15,000 bodily injury liability per victim, $30,000 bodily injury liability per accident, and $10,000 property damage coverage.  The bodily injury and property damage liability coverage will pay crash victims if policyholders were responsible for causing an auto accident.

Victims of collisions and their families will often need to negotiate with insurers to receive appropriate monetary compensation for their losses following a car accident. When negotiating with an insurer, there are a few tips to keep in mind to make sure you can try to get the coverage that you need for your losses:

  • Know who is supposed to pay. If someone else hurt you, his insurance pays. This means you’ll be negotiating with the other driver’s insurer. If the other driver had no insurance, you may not be able to get compensation unless you bought optional uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage- in which case you’d be negotiating compensation with your own insurer under these policies. If you were personally to blame for an accident, you also won’t have coverage unless you bought optional policies- which will again leave you negotiating with your insurer for coverage.
  • Assess your claim’s value. When making a claim, it is helpful to know what you actually deserve to receive in compensation. If you’re making a bodily injury claim, you should be paid for all medical treatment you’ve received and will need, missed work time, lost earning power, pain, suffering, and emotional distress.
  • Make your demands to the insurer. You’ll want to send a demand letter to the insurance company asking for an appropriate amount of compensation based on crash losses. The demand letter should provide information the insurer can review to see why you believe you deserve your requested amount of compensation.
  • Negotiate on compensation. Your demand letter is the jumping off point for negotiations. The insurer is likely going to make a counteroffer. You can go back and forth with the insurer to try to agree on what an appropriate amount of compensation would be.
  • Get help before you sign. When a negotiated amount of compensation is reached, signing a liability release is required to resolve your claim. Have a lawyer review the settlement and release of liability before you sign, because you cannot change your mind and later try to seek more compensation once you’ve given up your rights.
  • Be prepared to walk away. If an insurer isn’t negotiating fairly, you can make a personal injury claim by filing a civil lawsuit in court.

An experienced car accident lawyer can provide invaluable help throughout this negotiating process.