You are a few weeks past the accident. The other driver’s insurer has been in touch, been perfectly pleasant, and offered you a sum to settle now with no fuss. It is tempting, and the temptation is the point.
Why the offer comes early
Because early is cheap. Before a medical report exists, nobody knows whether your shoulder resolves in three months or needs surgery in year two. The insurer is buying that uncertainty from you, at a discount, and they are better at pricing it than you are.
Settlement is final
This is the part that catches people. Accepting an offer settles the claim in full and for good. If the injury turns out to be worse than anyone thought, you cannot go back. There is no topping-up later.
What the offer probably leaves out
- Loss of earnings you have not yet incurred, because you have not yet had the time off.
- Treatment you have not yet been told you need.
- Care and help your family has been giving you, which is recoverable and is almost never in an early offer.
- Future loss, if the injury does not fully resolve.
A pre-medical offer is an offer made in the dark
An injury claim is valued from an independent medical report. An offer made before that report exists is, by definition, not based on the medical evidence. It is based on the insurer’s statistical guess about people in your situation.
What to do instead
Do not reject it rudely and do not accept it quickly. Get the offer in writing, and have someone look at it before you respond. That review costs you nothing, and the difference between an early offer and a properly evidenced one is frequently substantial.