Common Questions About Negotiating a Settlement With an Insurance Company

Were you involved in a car accident, or the victim of medical malpractice? Or perhaps you suffered an injury from a slip and fall accident because of negligence on behalf of the property owner.

Whatever your case, insurance companies are notorious for trying to lowball clients with insufficient settlements, leaving them unable to pay for medical treatment. Unfortunately, people wanting a quick check fall for these tactics and find out too late the settlement wasn’t enough.

This is why it is important to understand the tricks of the trade when it comes time to negotiate your settlement with an insurance company, or hire a professional legal representative who can make sure you are fairly compensated.

Here are answers to a few of the most common questions about settlement negotiation with an insurance company and what you can expect.

How Does the Negotiation Process Work?

The first step in the settlement process is to send a demand payment letter. In the letter, you should state the most compelling points about your case, and list the physical and financial damages resulting from the accident. Finally, you will suggest a settlement amount. (It is recommended that you learn more about how to write a demand payment letter before attempting to negotiate with an insurance adjustor.)

Upon the initial conversation with the insurance adjustor, after the demand payment letter has been sent, you and the adjustor will establish what each of you think about the strengths and weaknesses of your claim.

The adjustor will then make an offer lower than the amount requested in the demand letter. You should then counter with a higher offer, but one lower than the original request, and so on. It typically takes two or three phone calls before you both agree on a settlement in between.

How Do I Negotiate My Claim?

Before beginning the negotiation process, you should have determined what your claim is worth, and decide on a minimum settlement amount you are willing to accept. Do not reveal this number to the adjustor. It is just so you can make sure you don’t walk away with an amount that is less than appropriate.

Of course, be prepared to adjust your minimum offer lower if the adjustor points out valid weaknesses in your claim that you had not considered, or higher if the adjustor’s first offers are around your minimum figure.

Never agree to a first offer. Sometimes an adjustor originally suggests an unreasonably low settlement to test if the claimant knows what he or she is doing. By negotiating you show that you are reasonable and willing to meet at a number you both think is fair.

Some other tips for negotiating with an adjustor include:

· Getting the adjustor to justify a low offer

· Emphasizing emotional points of the accident

· Putting the settlement in writing once an agreement has been reached

How Can I Learn More About Negotiating with my Insurance Company?

One of the best ways to become skilled in negotiating with an insurance company is by talking to the experts -attorneys. Experienced lawyers deal with insurance providers on a regular basis, and are intimately familiar with lowball tactics, as well as what is a fair amount settle for.

Consult with an insurance bad faith attorney about ways you can negotiate with an adjustor to get the best settlement offer. Or, if you don’t feel comfortable negotiating on your own, consider hiring legal representation to intercede on your behalf to make sure you get the compensation you deserve.

Distance Education and E-Learning – Past, Present and Future

Buzzwords in education have been in existence since the on-set of formal education as we know it today. Many of these terms come and go based on their usage and their context but some terminologies have withstood the test of time. Let us take a look at some of the common terms along with the chronology of how they evolved.

Although often used interchangeably, there is distinction between distance education and distance learning. Distance education takes place using print-based and electronic learning resources. Learners are connected to resources, instructors, and to other learners, and they tend to be separated by time and/or geographic/physical distance. Distance learning on the other hand is the actual system and the process, which connects a group of learners with the distributed learning resources. Learning takes place in various different forms but in general learners, instructors, and the necessary resources are separated by time and space.

Distance learning has over the years transitioned to online distance learning. It tends to utilize synchronous and asynchronous tools, and learning and communication methods. Synchronous learning uses electronically delivered teaching and learning with participants simultaneously and directly connected and communicating. On the other hand asynchronous learning is characterized by a time lag in communication.

A while back, along came e-learning! Electronic learning (e-learning) is defined as the delivery of instructional content using electronic means such as the Internet, intranets, audio and video equipment, web conferencing, virtual classrooms, CD-ROM, and more recently Web 2.0 tools. Simply put, e-learning is another mode of technology-aided teaching and learning. In the last few years, it has come to replace terms such as audio-visual learning, computer-based learning, web-based learning, online learning, and other buzz terms of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

E-learning is moving toward total automation of teaching and learning processes using software known as Learning Management Systems (LMS). To facilitate the development of courses that utilize Internet-based technologies, more and more colleges, universities, and businesses have embraced both open source and proprietary LMS tools. A growing trend in e-learning is the use of “hybrid” or “blended” or “multimodal” instructional approaches that replace or supplement partial in-class instruction with technologically enabled teaching and learning, which in many cases utilizes many tools bundled in the LMS.

Along the same lines many students engaged in e-learning may not be geographically distanced from the institution. For example, learners may be traditional learners living on campus or nearby yet taking course partially or fully online. This is often linked to the need for flexibility in personal (family) responsibilities and work schedules. Taking advantage of e-learning adds an extra layer of flexibility. In fact some people see distance learning as not being synonymous with e-learning, argue the point that distance learning is a generic term that presently happens to use the Internet as a vehicle. Thus, the position presented is that while distance education and e-learning do overlap, they are not identical but complementary.

E-learning is growing rapidly and is often associated with the Internet. There are however other modes of learning that are growing at a considerable rate too. Mobile learning (m-learning) for instance, is a rapidly growing innovation that has the advantage of allowing learners to be “on the move while learning. In other words, multi-tasking, for example jogging or listening to recorded lectures while driving to work. Therefore, m-learning is an extension of e-learning, which uses mobile (cell) phones, Personal digital assistants (PDA), and MP3 players (with iPods and podcasting being the mostly widely used). In places where bandwidth is limited m-learning is growing at a rapid rate.

As the technology gets more affordable and readily available, educational options will continue to expand. For those looking for flexibility due to family and work commitments, e-learning and m-learning may be an option to consider. For organizations and institutions looking to train employees without having to trade-off on productivity, time, cost, or hiring a consultant, this is also an option to consider.

PowerPoint: A Powerful Presentation Tool – Part 2

It is very important to fully test ALL the PowerPoint presentation equipment that a speaker will use for the presentation beforehand. Here are some helpful tips to make this a potential seamless process. 

  1. Ask your speakers to come early. Check to make certain their meeting equipment or accessories (CD, DVD, or USB) is compatible with the Presentation Services Audio Visual company’s equipment. Don’t assume the PowerPoint presentation will work on any laptop. Disk failures, software version mismatches, lack of disk space, low memory and many other factors can stop a PowerPoint presentation dead in its tracks.
  2. Make certain the LCD projector is on, working correctly with the laptop, and that the Presentation Services Audio Visual company has replacement lights in case the lamp burns out.
  3. If the speaker is using a wireless slide advance, make certain it works and that the Presentation Services Audio Visual company has spare batteries for the unit.
  4. If the speaker is using their own laptop, confirm that the battery is fully charged. Even with electrical outlets, room configurations can often change the day before the event. Don’t be caught far away from an electrical outlet with a dead laptop. If the speaker is not bringing their own gear, rent a laptop and make certain it is compatible with the speaker’s presentation.
  5. It is important the Presentation Services Audio Visual company know where all the electrical outlets are in the room, have ample extension cords available, and secure all cords to the floor with tape. We don’t want our speaker to fall!
  6. Does the room warrant a microphone and speakers? If so, make certain they are set up, the presenter tests the microphone, and there are plenty of spare batteries for the mic.
  7. If possible, have the Presentation Services Audio Visual company stay in the room for the entire presentation so they might attend to any malfunctions ASAP. Worse case, obtain the cell number of the technician and the office number for technical support if a problem arises.