Posted: December 13, 2010
There are some web sites that tout books variously titled How To Settle Your Own Personal Injury Claim Yourself. You can pay up to $100 dollars for some of these books.
I wanted to see if they were selling snake oil to the consuming public. Yes is the answer. The book I reviewed is by a lawyer. It does give some educational material about the claims process. So its not ALL snake oil.
But their guarantee says it all. (Snake Oil) The say you will save as much or more as the price you pay for the book.
The way they say you will save this money is by getting an insurance quote through an aggregator. So all your personal information is now captured by third parties. And they say get a quote two months after your settlement.
If your insurance company raises your rates (which they should not do because we are presuming a not at fault accident) you can use this information to tell them you can get a better rate and if they do not lower your rate you can buy other insurance. So their guarantee has nothing to do with saving money on your settlement.This
Not all cases need attorneys. Most real lawyers I know will tell you this without selling the information to you. Small cases can be handled by yourself. In fact, most serious personal injury attorneys limit the cases they take to serious injuries
Guess what the book says about that. "Please do not try to settle your case if you have a serious injury, a fatal injury , a brain injury or a permanent injury." They go on to say, "Injury lawyers have their place. There is no question about it. Good attorneys can increase your settlement substantially. There are certain claims where you NEED TO HIRE AN ATTORNEY i.e. brain injururies, permanent injuries, fatalities.... on these claims a lawyer is needed and the fee they charge (normally 33 1/3%) is well worth it."
Well well well. In a book touting "settle your claim yourself" comes out the reality they tell you themselves. If you have a significant injury hire a personal injury lawyer. I'll have more to say about this book in the future. I believe based on my experience their discussion of Colossus, the computer program started in use to value claims by Allstate in the United States is also not totally correct.
I invite you to call me at 1-800-447-6549 for a no obligation free consultation about your personal injury accident settlement .
updated 6/10/2021
