Why Insurance Companies Lowball Chicago Motorcycle Accident Victims (And How to Fight Back)

A motorcycle crash on a Chicago roadway can leave you facing excruciating pain, emotional trauma, and financial hardship. One moment you are riding and the next, you are in an ambulance headed to Northwestern or Rush hospital with potentially serious injuries and mounting medical bills. Then, when the medical bills start arriving, you may be tempted to accept a quick payout from the insurance company. Insurance adjusters are counting on the financial pressure you feel to encourage you to accept less than what you are entitled to for your injuries. If you accept an early settlement, though, you may end up paying for future surgeries, rehabilitation, and lost income out of your own pocket. You deserve to have someone protecting your interests. You focus on healing your body; let us handle the insurance company. Contact Paul Padda Law for a free, confidential review of your motorcycle crash.”

The “Reckless Biker” Stereotype: How Adjusters Weaponize Bias

People who ride motorcycles have long been viewed through a certain stereotypical lens, painting them as reckless risk-takers. Insurance adjusters apply this same bias when evaluating motorcycle accident cases.

The False Assumption of Speeding and Aggressive Riding

Insurance adjusters often approach motorcycle accident cases with the assumption that the biker was speeding, driving aggressively, or otherwise at-fault. Just as some motorists disobey the rules of the road, so do some motorcyclists. Assuming that a biker was disobeying the rules of the road, however, leads to treating the biker like a criminal instead of the victim that they are.

The Illinois Helmet Law Reality (And How Adjusters Twist It)

Illinois is one of only three states that do not have a helmet law for motorcycles. Insurance adjusters often twist the law to make it sound as if a biker is at fault for not wearing a helmet. The reality is that because helmets are not required by law, an insurance company cannot deny a claim based on the fact that the biker was not wearing a helmet.

If you lost a family member to a fatal motorcycle accident in Illinois, please contact us to discuss a potential wrongful death claim and other legal options you may have.

Common Tactics Used to Devalue Your Chicago Motorcycle Claim

When the insurance company cannot completely deny a claim, it will often use common tactics to try to devalue the claim.

The Trap of the “Friendly” Recorded Statement

An insurance adjuster may call “just to check on you” shortly after the accident. They may ask you to record a brief statement “just to get your side of things.” Although the adjuster will sound friendly and make it seem as though a recorded statement is harmless, the truth is that anything you say in that statement can be taken out of context and used against you down the road. Never agree to give a recorded statement.

Delaying the Claim While You Face Financial Ruin

Another way that insurance companies try to manipulate you into accepting less than what your case is worth is to delay your claim for as long as possible. In the interim, your financial situation continues to deteriorate. The goal is to get you to cave and accept the token settlement amount they are offering you.

Disputing the Severity of “Invisible” Injuries like Road Rash and Nerve Damage

Insurance companies like to pretend that certain injuries are not real injuries. Road rash and nerve damage, for example, are common motorcycle accident injuries. While they may not be blatantly obvious injuries, they can be serious and may cause lifelong pain.

Before you sign any medical release forms or give a recorded statement, talk to a lawyer who knows how adjusters operate. Call our Chicago team immediately to protect your rights.

Understanding Illinois Comparative Negligence After a Crash

If you were partially at fault in your Illinois motorcycle accident, you may still be entitled to compensation for your injuries because Illinois utilizes a modified comparative negligence rule.

How the “51% Rule” Can Wipe Out Your Settlement

Under the Illinois modified comparative negligence rule, an injured victim may be entitled to compensation as long as the victim was not more than 50 percent at fault. In other words, if your share of the fault in your motorcycle accident was 51 percent or more, you are not entitled to recover anything for your injuries.

Defeating the “I Just Didn’t See Them” Defense from Drivers

Despite campaigns to make other motorists aware of the presence of motorcycles on the nation‘s roadways, drivers continue to claim “I didn’t see them” when they collide with a motorcycle. This is a common refrain when a driver turns left into the path of a motorcycle. Failing to see another vehicle, including a motorcycle, on the roadway is not a valid defense.

The Impact of Illinois Lane Splitting Laws on Your Case

Lane-splitting is illegal under Illinois law. If a biker was “lane-splitting” at the time of an accident, the biker may be cited for a traffic violation and may be held partially responsible for the crash. The fact that a biker was violating a traffic law, however, does not exonerate the driver from all liability for the crash.

Calculating the True Cost of Your Motorcycle Accident

One of the many reasons to resist accepting an initial settlement offer from the insurance company is that you are entitled to a full and fair settlement that reflects the true cost of your motorcycle accident.

Why You Must Reach “Maximum Medical Improvement” (MMI) First

Settlement negotiations should not even begin in your motorcycle accident cases until you have reached maximum medical improvement (MMI). MMI does not necessarily mean that you are back to where you were before the crash. It just means that your doctors have determined that you are unlikely to make any more significant improvements even with continued medical care.

Accounting for Future Surgeries, Rehab, and Lost Earning Capacity

The true value of your motorcycle accident case must take into consideration not only medical bills, therapy expenses, and lost wages to date, but also the estimated cost of future surgeries, rehabilitation, and lost earning capacity.

How a Chicago Motorcycle Accident Attorney Forces Fair Payouts

If you are injured in a Chicago motorcycle accident, you can count on the insurance adjuster for the at-fault party applying negative stereotypes and biases to the investigation and analysis of the accident. You need an experienced Chicago motorcycle accident attorney on your side to force a fair payout from the insurance company.

Accident Reconstruction: Proving You Weren’t at Fault

The team at Paul Padda Law can employ an experienced accident reconstructionist to counter the unfair assumptions made by the insurance adjuster and prove that you were not at fault.

Taking the Fight to Court When Insurance Won’t Settle Fairly

If the insurance company does not agree to a favorable and fair settlement that compensates you for all your injuries, we will take the fight to court and aggressively advocate on your behalf.

FAQs

Don’t let an insurance company discount your life just because you ride. Find out what your case is truly worth for free. We operate on a No Win, No Fee basis—call Paul Padda Law today.