How do I Dispute What the Insurance Company Says my Claim is Worth?

Of course, this is what they are going to do. This is how insurance companies make extraordinary profits, by denying or extremely limiting the value of all claims. So how do you fight for a higher number?

Depending on the terms of your auto insurance policy, you likely file a demand for arbitration or take them to court and walk a jury through all of your damages so they have no choice but to arrive at the figure that you tell them. Understanding that your relationship with the insurance company might one day turn adversarial should remind you to speak to them carefully and with an attorney from the very beginning. You have to think about protecting your recovery from Day 1 following a collision.

Many people are familiar with the legal process. However, if you are involved in an accident with an uninsured or underinsured motorist, you might have to go to arbitration instead of court. What is the difference? One important difference is that both sides must agree to arbitration in the first place. By contrast, you can compel another party to appear in court for a lawsuit. Another distinction relates to process, both sides can delineate much of the rules in arbitration whereas they are already in set in stone in court. Finally, one thing that court and arbitration have in common is that decisions in both are enforceable. This means that you should treat each of them seriously.