A first offer is not a verdict. It becomes unreasonable when the carrier has the records, the liability is not seriously in doubt, and the number ignores the surgery, the wage loss, or the policy they know they wrote.
Patterns
- Delay dressed up as “pending.”
- A recorded statement requested again after you declined.
- A quick check in exchange for a release, before you have finished treatment.
- Blame assigned to lane splitting or gear with no reconstruction behind it.
The response is not a louder letter. It is a file that can be tried: experts retained, depositions set, a demand that matches the proof. Trial counsel is useful at that point, not as a slogan on the demand.
Written for riders in California as general information from the Bike911 practice of A.G. Assanti & Associates, P.C. It is not advice about your facts, and it is not a substitute for counsel. Deadlines can be shorter than you think.
Related
- After a motorcycle accident, what should I do first?
- Should I talk to the insurance company before a lawyer?
- What happens if I was partially at fault?
- How does a lawyer decide what a case is worth?
- What evidence disappears quickly after an accident?
- What should I photograph after a crash?
- Can I still claim if I did not go to the hospital?
- What is the difference between settling and going to trial?
- What actually happens after a case goes to trial?
- Is lane splitting legal, and does it sink a claim?
- Does California helmet law affect a claim?