Did you know what to do if an Insurance Company puts a Walkaway offer to you?
It is not uncommon that in the course of arguing a claim that the Insurance Company or its lawyers will make a settlement offer. If you reject their offer and pursue your claim but in the end you don’t beat the initial offer, the insurance company will often argue that it will not pay your legal costs.
In fact, they may even argue that you need to pay their legal costs. Sometimes the offer is to Walk Away, that is, the insurance company tells you that you don’t have a claim and if you carry on suing they will want you to pay their costs, but, if you walk away now they will not claim their costs from you.
In a recent NSW case, the Court said that if a Walk Away offer is made too soon and before you have even had the chance to properly investigate your claim, then the Walk Away offer is really just an attempt to deter a claimant rather than being a genuine offer to settle.
When receiving a final offer from an insurance company or its lawyers the insurance company needs to properly explain all the weaknesses in your case and why it is inviting you to Walk Away.
If you are given a Walk Away offer, get legal advice.
