We have reviewed a representative sample of our cases to determine how much better we were doing than our clients could do on their own. On August 31, 2001, we took our previous 137 consecutive motor vehicle accidents or slip and fall cases and compared the settlement or court judgment amount with the amount the insurance company said the claim was worth. We found that our average settlement was 227%, or more than twice, what the insurance company offered to pay.

In Tables A and B below, Column B shows the insurance company’s offer and Column C shows the final settlement or judgment amount.

Table A shows the cases where the insurance company took the initial position, by either making an initial offer or denying the claim (87 cases). When they denied the claim it was usually on the basis that they felt that the insurance company had no legal obligation to pay, either because they took the position that the person was not injured or the defendant was not liable for the accident. Acheson Whitley Sweeney prepared the client’s case and represented the client in settlement discussions, mediations or trial. We were able to recover 261% more than the insurance company’s initial position.

Table B shows the cases where the insurance company did not deny the claim but did not make an offer either, until we did (50 cases). In these cases, the Insurer’s offer was a response to our initial offer. The client came to us when there was no offer on the table, we prepared the file and made an offer to the insurance company. In these case, a percentage increase is not relevant as you cannot calculate a percentage increase from zero. However, we have entered the insurance company’s response to our offer in Column B and calculated the difference from the final settlement. What this means is that, after we prepared our clients’ cases and made an offer, the insurance company responded with the offer listed in Column B. We then counter offered and ended up with settlements that averaged 108% more than the insurance company’s offer.

In total, the average increase for all 137 consecutive clients was 227%. The more relevant number is that, in cases where the insurance company made the first offer, we recovered 261% more than the offer. Any way you look at it, the compensation we have won for our clients has been more than twice what the insurance company would have paid.