If you’re bitten by a dog that isn’t yours, you could be entitled to significant damages and compensation for your injuries and hardship. At the offices of William Rawlings & Associates, LLC, we have years of experience providing dog bite attorney services to clients in need.
We can walk you through every step of a process you need to navigate carefully to ensure you receive what you deserve. Let’s go over some of the important steps of the insurance claims adjustment process some of our clients tend to struggle with, plus how to handle them properly.
In most dog bite situations, claims will be filed against the homeowner’s insurance policy of the owner of the dog. From here, this insurance company will likely call you – the person making this call is called a claims adjuster.
During this phone call, you will not be asked to negotiate a settlement – that should never be an option without your dog bite lawyer also present. Rather, this call is to gather basic facts about the incident and prepare the claim for the next steps.
During this call, you’ll be given the option to record a statement about the incident where the adjuster asks you questions. Firstly, know this: If you don’t feel you’re ready to do this for whatever reason, you’re within your rights to delay this statement. Your attorney or significant other can pass on the message that you need more time before giving an official statement if you aren’t able to do so. Remember that this statement is binding in court, so you should be fully prepared when you give it.
Questions during this adjuster call may become relatively personal, and it’s even possible the process could be contentious to some small degree. No matter what, you have to stay professional and smart – we’ve seen cases where frustration or simple misunderstanding has led to a victim misunderstanding and actually proposing illegal or unethical solutions to the adjuster, thereby damaging their case. Your dog bite attorney can explain areas you should avoid or be careful in before your call.
Never embellish even tiny details of your case during the adjustment process. If anyone finds out, not only could your claim be in trouble, but you could face legal action for filing a false claim. If you truly were harmed outside your own fault in a dog bite case, the real facts will be enough to get you the proper compensation.
For more on the claims adjuster period within dog bite cases, or to learn about any of our personal injury services, speak to the pros at the offices of William Rawlings & Associates, LLC.