TRIAL LAWYER FOR 20 YEARS–JAKE GUNTER CALL/TXT (801) 373-6345
I have been a trial lawyer for 20 years this month, May 2024. 
I have certainly learned a few things. One is: Don’t represent yourself.
I have seen what happens when people try to represent themselves in Utah car accident cases.
WITHOUT AN ATTORNEY YOU ARE TREATED DIFFERENTLY IN UTAH CAR ACCIDENT INSURANCE CLAIMS.
True Settlement Value. If you represent yourself, you will generally receive less compensation then hiring an attorney. This is primarily because the insurance company knows that you don’t know the true value of your case, or what they routinely pay when injury lawyers are involved.
The Low Ball Initial Offer. When you represent yourself you will receive a $1,500 above the medical bills offers. Then the insurance carrier may go up a bit to $2,500 after much negotiation and effort. When you have an attorney you often avoid those terrible offers.
When you don’t have a lawyer the insurance company knows you don’t have the ability to file a lawsuit and will just wait you out. Utah has a 4 year statute of limitation.
Ability to File Suit. When you hire an attorney who never files lawsuits on injury claims, but only settles, you will receive less settlement value. When you represent yourself, the insurance company knows that you don’t know how to file suit. The insurance company will just wait you out with their low offer.
Pre-Lawsuit Value. Every insurance claim has a pre-lawsuit value and lawsuit value.
When you have not filed suit, the insurance company has certainties that they will never have to pay above their contractual policy limits.
Lawsuit Value. Soon as you file a lawsuit, your claim generally has a higher value. This is because the jury or judge decides how much the claim value is worth, not the parties. For the first time because a lawsuit has been filed, the insurance company can pay above their contractual policy limits.
Excess Judgment. This threat of a jury verdict above policy limits is called an excess verdict. Insurance companies do not like to pay above what they contracted to pay for. If the policy limits are $25,000, all they are required to pay is $25,000.
Bad Faith 1st Party Lawsuit. Excess judgments against their insured can create “Bad Faith” lawsuits against the insurance carrier from their own insureds. Bad Faith lawsuits are where an insurance company had a reasonable opportunity to settle a claim within the policy limits but failed to do so in bad faith. Thus exposing their insured’s assets to an excess judgment above the policy limits.
RECENT EXAMPLES OF WHERE FILING A LAWSUIT CLEARLY OBTAINED A REASONABLE SETTLEMENT
The below are just a few, there are many more over my 20 years where the offer doubled once I filed a lawsuit. Many other offers that doubled or tripled were confidential settlements.
The $800 Offer. One egregious case was the rental car company that offered $800 to settle the car accident claim. I immediately filed suit and obtained the $25,000 policy limits.
Double Offer. The initial offer was $2,300 because the client was on Facebook eating ice cream right after the car accident. The case is about to settle north of $23,000.
Double Offer 2. The initial offer was $10,000. The case settled for $107,000.
Zero Offer to $17,000. Sometimes you get a “No Offer” case. This is where the at-fault driver doesn’t believe they did anything wrong. Thus they offer nothing to settle the case. After much litigation, the case settled for $17,000.
Double Offer 3. Prior to filing a lawsuit the insurance company offered $12,000. Shortly after filing a lawsuit the case settled for $24,000.
There are many, many more. It is just common to file suit and receive a more reasonable settlement.