Short, straight answers about property damage claims, referrals and growing your firm.
Yes. A totaled car with a low insurance offer, or a repaired car that lost resale value, is a claim worth pursuing even with no injury. Total losses are usually disputed through the Appraisal Clause in the owner's own policy, without a lawsuit, and repaired cars can bring a diminished value claim.
Read moreInstead of turning them away, refer them to a firm that handles property damage claims, and ask that any injury case comes back to you. Firms that take these claims can set up a referral line so your intake team forwards the caller in seconds, and the caller gets help instead of a dead end.
Read moreMake one specific, easy ask: the cases they turn away. For injury firms, that's the property-damage-only calls. Pitch it in two minutes, send a one-pager and a short referral agreement the same day, give their intake team one number to forward to, and send every injury case straight back to them.
Read moreGenerally not. Under the ABA Model Rules, lawyers generally can't give anything of value for a recommendation, though Rule 7.2 allows non-exclusive reciprocal referral arrangements where the client is told about them. Rules vary by state, so check your state bar. The True Claims referral agreement has no fee sharing.
Read moreIt's a provision in most auto policies that lets either side ask for an appraisal when they disagree on a car's value. Each side picks an appraiser, and if the two can't agree, an umpire decides. It resolves the value dispute without a lawsuit, which is why total losses can settle quickly.
Read moreThe insurer sets the car's actual cash value, usually from comparable vehicles for sale or recently sold, adjusted for mileage, options and condition. If those comparables are the wrong trim, have different mileage or come from another market, the value and the offer come in low.
Read moreIt depends on the car, its mileage and the damage, but with True Claims diminished value claims have usually settled for $2,500–$6,000, within 1–6 weeks (past results, not a forecast). On a one-third fee, that's about $1,000 to the firm on average.
Read moreMost TRUEclaims total losses have settled within 1–2 weeks through the Appraisal Clause (past results, not a forecast). That's far faster than an injury case, which can take a year or more, because there's no lawsuit and the dispute is only about the car's value.
Read moreA common structure is a third of the increase over the insurer's offer on a total loss, and a third of the settlement on diminished value. The firm fronts the costs (about $500–$600 per total loss, $200–$350 per diminished value claim) and gets them back from the settlement.
Read moreBuild a referral source instead of buying more clicks. The injury firms near you turn away property-damage-only calls every week; with a simple referral agreement they can forward those callers to your firm, and you send their injury cases back. There's no cost per lead, and each partner firm adds calls every month.
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