How Lowball Insurance Offers Hurt Real People

car wreck evidence

This is a real life example of how insurance companies lowball people.

In 2018, my client was involved in a serious wreck. The other driver was clearly at fault. Our client was just driving down the road when an 85-year-old driver coming from the other direction turned in front of her.

Our client had to go to the hospital by ambulance. She had more than a year of consistent, conservative treatment for a concussion, neck injury, and other injuries. She was diagnosed with tinnitus (ringing in her ears) as a result of her head injury.

Her medical bills were around $50,000. We sent an initial demand to State Farm, the driver’s insurer, for the policy limits of $250,000.

State Farm’s highest offer was $55,000. Medical bills plus $5,000 for pain and suffering.

We filed a lawsuit. The at-fault driver had died so we had to sue his 80-year-old widow who was the administrator of his estate.

State Farm’s lawyers responded to the lawsuit and denied the driver was at fault. They even blamed our client for the wreck.

Three years later in 2023, on the eve of trial, State Farm offered $115,000. We demanded $135,000 pursuant to an offer of settlement. State Farm rejected it.

Five years after the wreck our client finally got her day in court.

The verdict: $205,000.

State Farm was also ordered to pay our attorney’s fees and expenses because we beat our offer of settlement.

Final judgment: $331,962.06.

It took our client five years to get her day in court.

She had to sue the 80-year-old widow who also had to have litigation hanging over her head because of State Farm’s failure to negotiate in good faith.

And at the end of the day, State Farm ended up paying nearly $200,000 more than it would have paid to settle the case without a trial, and that doesn’t include what it had to pay its attorneys.

Yet State Farm and big insurance companies would have you believe that lawyers like myself who represent injury victimsand regular Georgians who sit on juriesare the problem.

What are your thoughts? Join the conversation with me on LinkedIn.

About the Author

Darl Champion is an award-winning personal injury lawyer serving the greater Metro Atlanta area. He is passionate about ensuring his clients are fully compensated when they are harmed by someone’s negligence. Learn more about Darl here.