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Flying Blind and Settling Your Illinois Worker's Compensation Case

Even though they do not know how to properly evaluate their own case for settlement, many injured workers in Illinois decide to try to “handle it myself and save on lawyer fees.” Anyone who decides to do this is flying blind and is highly unlikely to end up with the type of settlement they deserve. Moreover, once you put a number on the table as being something that you are willing to accept, it is very hard to make sure that you end up with the right amount of compensation.

An example may help explain this. Let’s assume that you have a work-related injury where the fair settlement value of the claim is $20,000. There are a number of ways that this can play out …..

1. You offer to settle your case for $5,000.

Let’s say it is a number you chose because that is what a friend/neighbor/relative got on their case, or it is the amount of money you need to catch up on bills, but when the adjuster asked you for what you might be willing to take, that is the number that you gave him. (Keep in mind that insurance adjusters have no obligation to explain to you how to evaluate your case properly, and most don’t.)

One response might be that they agree to your settlement demand. If they do, your case is over forever, and you have shorted yourself $15,000.

Another response may be that they try to nickel and dime you and offer to settle with you for $4,200 (or some other number less than the $5,000). If they are successful in getting you to negotiate down from your demand, you will be shorted even more money on your settlement.

On the other hand, this is where some people get angry and decide to hire a lawyer. After all, you have tried to be reasonable with them, and now they are trying to nickel and dime you. Hiring a lawyer is certainly the right decision, and you would probably end up with a settlement in excess of what you initially asked for, but only after a lot of work and some delay. Why? Because the insurance company knows that at one time, you were willing to walk away from the case for $5,000, and it will take some real work on the part of the lawyer to get past the number that you put on the table.

2. You offer to settle your case for $80,000

The most likely response to this is that they will tell you that they will never pay that figure and that you are way off base. By putting an outrageous number out there, you are showing that you do not know how the system works. You also run into the risk that the demand will cause the insurance company to have a strongly negative reaction to you, your case, and your settlement demand. The net result: you will have to hire a lawyer to properly evaluate the case. Making a demand that is completely way off base will never generate a positive result.

3. You offer to settle your case for $20,000

Let’s assume that you somehow hit upon the right number for settling your case. Unless you can demonstrate to the adjuster that you have a good reason for asking for that number, the likelihood is high that the adjuster will try to get you to negotiate downwards from that amount and that assuming you are willing, your case will get settled for a number below the fair settlement value. Why? Because you have not demonstrated that you know what your rights are or how to enforce them, and from the perspective of an insurance company, an uniformed worker is a good one.

The bottom line is this: injured workers in Illinois cost themselves millions of dollars each year in taking short settlements in an effort to save themselves lawyer fees. If you do not know how to properly evaluate your case for settlement, you are flying blind. That is a horrible idea when thousands of dollars of your money is at stake. We sent you a brochure a short while ago which explained to you why hiring a worker’s compensation is not an expensive proposition and why you will never be caught in a situation where “the lawyer takes everything and I end up with nothing.”

If it is time to start thinking about settling your worker’s compensation case, it is time to start thinking about hiring a lawyer.

The Law Offices of
Barry G. Doyle, P.C.
5215 Old Orchard Road
Suite 710
Skokie, IL 60077
Phone: 312.263.1080
Fax: 312.263.0153

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