Farmers may know a thing or two because they’ve seen a thing or two. But so have the accident injury lawyers at Redemption Law. We know that when an accident causes injuries, you are likely facing a long road to recovery paved with steep medical bills, not to mention pain and suffering that may keep you from working. You need and deserve compensation for your injuries and losses.
Unfortunately, Farmers, like other insurance companies, are more focused on playful ads than providing injury victims with fair compensation.
Time and time again, our lawyers caution accident victims never to accept a settlement offer from Farmers or any other insurance company without consulting our personal injury lawyers. Our lawyers at Redemption Law know a thing or two about tactics insurance companies use to shortchange accident victims in one of their greatest times of need. We can help you get the compensation you deserve.
Common Injury Claim Accidents
Our lawyers deal with Farmers adjusters on many accident cases, such as:
- Truck accidents
- Car accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Rideshare accidents
About Farmers
Farmers Insurance Group was founded in 1928 and has become a powerhouse in the insurance industry. The company serves more than 50 million individual policies across the country. The company rakes in about $11.7 billion in revenues annually. Farmers offers extensive coverage options, but reviews of its customer service and claims departments are tepid at best, with several complaints about poor customer service, unexpected price increases, and delayed claims processes.
Filing a Farmers Injury Claim in Florida
Florida is a no-fault state for auto insurance, which means, if you are in a car accident, you must first seek compensation from your own insurance company regardless of caused the accident. If you’re a Farmers customer, you will need to contact the company, and Farmers should cover your damages up to your policy limits.
Farmers policyholders can report their accident through a mobile app, online, by calling the company’s claims department at (800) 435-7764, or by working directly with your Farmers agent to guide you through the process though you’re better off having us do that for you.
Farmers doesn’t give a specific deadline for filing claims, only to “file a claim as soon as possible after a car accident.” It’s best to heed that warning, as some insurance companies may use any delay by a policyholder as a reason to deny or even cancel a policy.
When you report an accident to Farmers, you will need to give some basic details, such as the date, time, and location of the accident; the make and model of the vehicles involved; and the other driver’s contact and insurance information. Farmers will probably ask for more details, such as your version of what caused the accident, or get you to give a statement or sign a document. You should never give more than the basic information and never, ever admit fault. Sign nothing unless we review it for you first.
Insurance companies will use your words against you to lower the value of your claim. Let our lawyers handle those details with Farmers once we investigate your accident.
Insurance Requirements in Florida
Florida, like most other no-fault states, requires all drivers to buy Personal Injury Protection (PIP) Insurance, which covers your accident-related medical bills and lost income. Farmers offers different levels of PIP, but Florida law requires a minimum of $10,000. If your medical bills and lost income exceed your PIP coverage limits, Florida allows you to file a third-party claim against the at-fault driver’s insurance company.
Filing a Third-Party Claims
Whether you have Farmers insurance or not, you may file your third-party claim against Farmers if the at-fault driver does. Farmers doesn’t have the best reviews when it comes to customer service and claims. Our lawyers can handle first-party (claims to your own insurance company) and third-party claims on your behalf so you can focus on your own recovery.
Accident victims in Florida also have the option to file a lawsuit against the at-fault driver in an auto accident if they sustained severe or catastrophic injuries or if their property damages exceed $10,000.
Florida law describes severe and catastrophic as:
- Permanent injuries with significant scarring or disfigurement
- Permanent injuries with significant loss of a vital bodily function
- Permanent injuries within a reasonable degree of medical probability
- Fatal injuries
Farmers’ Claims Process
Farmers’ claims process resembles any other insurance company’s. Once you report your accident, Farmers reviews teh crash, your medical records, and any other evidence available. Farmers will then calculate your damages based on their findings and offer you a settlement. Their offer may include compensation for your medical bills and lost income if your injuries caused you to miss work. Farmers may even kick in some money for your pain and suffering.
Farmers’ offer will merely skim the surface of the true extent and value of your damages. Their offer may not consider the long-term medical expenses or limitations your injuries have on your work or daily activities, nor the full physical and emotional impact of your pain and suffering and that of your family.
Our lawyers know how to thoroughly investigate and value an injury victim’s full damages, and then fight for the maximum compensation for our clients.
How Our Lawyers Handle Farmers Injury Claims
Our lawyers handle Farmers injury claims in much the same way we handle injury claims with other insurance companies. Our process includes activities such as:
Investigating Your Accident
Our lawyers will conduct our own investigation into your accident to identify all possible causes. We’ll consider all evidence available, including the police report, photos of the accident scene, witness testimony, and your medical bills. We’ll also talk with you and your family to better understand how your injuries affected your life.
Identifying All Liable Parties
Some accidents involve more than one liable party. Our lawyers will work to identify other parties that may hold some responsibility for your accident and seek compensation from all of them. For example, after a trucking accident with an inexperienced truck driver, you might hold the trucking company liable for negligent hiring practices.
Valuing Your Claim
Putting a price tag on an injury claim is both an art and a science. Our lawyers look for all the possible damages you suffered. Many of these monetary losses are easier to value, such as medical bills for treatments and procedures or lost income from missed work days. We call these economic damages.
If you suffered severe and disabling injuries, you may require long-term medical treatments, such as surgeries, rehabilitation, prosthetics, modifications to your home or vehicle, and so on. Farmers’ offer may not consider these long-term needs, and if you accept their first offer, you may not recover compensation for these needs. Our lawyers will calculate a value for your future medical needs and protect you in the long-term.
Your injuries may also prevent you from working in the same capacity as before your accident, or you may never work again. Our lawyers will also calculate a value for loss of future income or earnings.
Other damages are harder to put a price tag on, such as those that involve pain and suffering. We call these non-economic damages.
Physical and emotional pain are subjective, and people experience them differently. Depending on your injuries, you may recover compensation for mental anguish, disfigurement and scarring, loss of enjoyment of life, or loss of consortium.
Our lawyers usually rely on one of two methods to value non-economic damages the multiplier method and the per diem method. The multiplier method multiplies your economic damages by a number. The more severe your injuries, the higher the number, or multiplier. The per diem method uses a daily value, often based on your income.
Once our lawyers determine the full extent of your damages and their value, we will calculate a monetary number that more accurately fits your needs and will present this demand for compensation to Farmers.
Farmers Calculates Damages Differently
Farmers uses the Colossus software system to calculate damages in injury claims and create a value range based on an analysis of past auto claims and information from your medical records. A Farmers adjuster plugs data into the system, such as whether you were hospitalized, the type and length of your medical treatment, any medication or therapy you received, and the severity of your injuries. Then, Colossus spits out a range. The adjuster will usually make an offer on the low end of that range.
One problem with Colossus is that it uses pre-recorded data for its calculations. So, it likely will not factor in the cost of additional medical treatments for your specific injury. Colossus may not consider future medical bills or your emotional injuries. And, if Farmers believes you are remotely at fault for the accident, the compensation they offer could decrease even more. As a result, the offer you receive from Farmers may look like a lot of money, but in actuality, it pales in comparison to your full damages.
Again, never accept an offer from an insurance company without talking with a lawyer and learning the full worth of your claim.
Negotiating With Farmers for a Fair Settlement
Our lawyers can go toe-to-toe with Farmers and make a demand for compensation that reflects the full value of your damages. The adjuster will likely make a counteroffer. We will continue to negotiate with Farmers until we reach a fair settlement. If Farmers refuses to fairly compensate you, we may recommend that you take Farmers to court.
Representing You in Court
Sometimes all insurance companies need to offer a fair settlement is for a plaintiff to hit them with a lawsuit. Our lawyers can file your case in civil court before the statute of limitations. (Florida law requires plaintiffs to file injury cases within two years of your injury.) Insurance companies prefer to avoid the expense and time of going to court. We will continue to negotiate with Farmers. Almost always, these cases settle before a trial begins.
However, if your lawsuit is one of the exceptions and makes it to trial, we can represent you in court and work hard to ensure you get the full compensation you deserve.
Contact a Lawyer With Redemption Law Today
Farmers may have “seen a thing or two,” but so have our accident lawyers at Redemption Law. We know the tactics insurance companies use to get out of paying what injured accident victims deserve. We will fight for you every step of the way to ensure you recover full compensation for your monetary losses and the immeasurable pain and suffering you and your family endured.
The Miami personal injury lawyers at Redemption Law will fight hard for maximum compensation so you can focus on your physical recovery. Contact our personal injury attorney in Miami today at (305) 465-3425 for your free consultation and case evaluation.