Often, yes. A first offer is too low when it arrives before your treatment is finished, before the adjuster has your complete medical records, before anyone has priced future care, and without separating economic losses from pain and suffering. In Texas you generally have two years to file suit, so a fast offer is rarely a real deadline.
Sign One: The Offer Came Before You Finished Treating
This is the most common reason a first offer is low, and it is the easiest one to check. If you are still going to the doctor, nobody knows what the claim is worth yet — including you.
A claim is normally valued once treatment is complete or a physician says you have reached maximum medical improvement, meaning you are as recovered as you are likely to get. Before that point, the medical picture is a fragment, and an offer made against a fragment is priced against a fragment.
If a number arrives in week two, the question is not “is this fair.” It is “fair to what?”
Sign Two: The Adjuster Is Working From an Incomplete File
Ask one question in writing: which medical records and bills did you use to evaluate this claim? The answer is frequently the emergency room visit and nothing else.
Records lag behind treatment. Imaging reports, specialist notes, therapy billing and hospital itemizations arrive weeks or longer, after the care happened. An offer made before those documents land is not an evaluation of your injury. It is an evaluation of whatever paperwork was on the desk that morning.
Get the list in writing. It tells you what the number was actually based on, and it creates a record if the file is still incomplete later for a different reason.
Sign Three: Nothing in the Number Is for Future Care
Settlements are final. There is no second claim later when the injections wear off or a recommended surgery becomes unavoidable. An offer with nothing in it for future treatment is an offer to buy your future medical care for free.
Look for this specifically if a doctor has raised any of the following: a surgical consultation, injections, a course of therapy that has not started, hardware that will need revision, or work restrictions that have not been lifted. Each of those has a cost, and the cost belongs in the number.
Future lost earning capacity belongs there to when the injury changes the work you are able to do.
Sign Four: One Lump Sum With No Breakdown
That last category is where the discount usually hides. Texas places no cap on non-economic damages — physical pain, mental anguish, physical impairment and disfigurement — in an ordinary negligence case such as a car crash. Caps exist in medical malpractice and on punitive damages. They do not apply here.
If the breakdown shows the offer is roughly equal to the medical bills received so far, then the offer contains nothing at all for the injury itself.
Sign Five: A Silent Discount for Fault or Coverage
Two reductions get applied quietly, and neither is usually announced.
The first is comparative fault. Under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code §33.001 et seq. and §33.012 you can recover as long as you are 50% or less responsible, and your award is reduced by your percentage. At 51% you recover nothing. An adjuster who has privately assigned you 30% of the blame will make an offer that reflects it without saying so. Ask directly what percentage has been assigned and on what evidence.
The second is coverage. Texas minimum auto liability limits are 30/60/25 under Transportation Code §601.072: $30,000 per injured person, $60,000 per crash, and $25,000 for property damage. If the at-fault driver carries the minimum and your bills exceed it, the ceiling is not the adjuster’s opinion of your case. It is the policy. That is the moment your own uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage matters, if you have that coverage.
When a first offer is actually reasonable
Sometimes it is. If liability is admitted, your treatment is genuinely finished, every bill is in, no physician has recommended anything further, and the insurer is tendering its full policy limits, an early offer can be the best outcome available — and there may be nothing left to argue about.
Recognizing that is part of an honest evaluation, not an argument against getting one.
What to Do Before You Answer
Slow the conversation down and put it on paper. Verbal offers cannot be examined, and neither can verbal reasoning behind them.
Then, get a second opinion on the number itself. Jim Ross Law Group reviews offers at no charge — call 817-275-4100 for a free consultation, and there is no fee unless we win.
- Do not sign a release, and do not deposit a check that recites settlement of the injury claim.
- Finish treating or get your doctor’s written statement of what still remains.
- Collect the complete billing, including anything routed through your health insurer.
- Check your own policy for MedPay, PIP, and uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.
Warning sign
What to ask, in writing
Offer arrived while you are still treating
Which medical records and dates of service did you use to evaluate this claim?
Nothing identified for future care
What did you include for the treatment my doctor has recommended but I have not had yet?
One lump number, no explanation
How much of this is medical expenses, how much is lost income, and how much is non-economic damages?
The number looks reduced for no stated reason
What percentage of responsibility have you assigned to me, if any, and based on what evidence?
Offer is a round figure
What are the applicable policy limits, and are they being tendered? Adjusters usually don’t disclose the policy limit unless they are tendering the policy limit, at which time, you should request their insured’s declarations page to confirm that they are tendering the policy limit. Adjusters usually don’t disclose the policy limit unless they are tendering the policy limit, at which time, you should request their insured’s declarations page to confirm that they are tendering the policy limit. Adjusters usually don’t disclose the policy limit unless they are tendering the policy limit, at which time, you should request their insured’s declarations page to confirm that they are tendering the policy limit.
Ask in writing and keep the response. It costs nothing and it creates a record.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to accept an insurance offer?
An offer usually has no legal expiration, only whatever pressure the adjuster attaches to it. But remember, until you accept an offer, it can be withdrawn by the insurance company. Once you accept an offer or the insurance company accepts your demand, there is a deal. What does expire is the claim itself: In Texas, you generally have two years from the date of injury to file suit under Civil Practice and Remedies Code §16.003. Much shorter notice deadlines apply when a governmental unit is involved.
Can I counter the first offer myself?
Yes. Counter in writing, state what the offer omits, and attach the documents that support it: complete billing records and medical records, a physician’s statement about future care, any physical impairment or disability which was caused by the accident, and lost wage documentation. Insurers expect a counter. What weakens a counter-demand is a number with nothing to support it, which is easy to reject and hard to defend.
The adjuster says it's their final offer. Is it?
Sometimes it genuinely is the policy limit, which is a real ceiling. Often “final” means final until something changes: new records, a demand package, a lawsuit, or a different person reviewing the file. Ask whether the number is limited by the policy. That one answer separates a hard limit from a negotiating position. Of course, the adjuster does not have to disclose the policy limit unless it is tendering the policy limit. Of course, the adjuster does not have to disclose the policy limit unless it is tendering the policy limit. Of course, the adjuster does not have to disclose the policy limit unless it is tendering the policy limit.
Will asking for more make them withdraw the offer?
Withdrawing an offer outright is unusual, because the insurer’s exposure does not disappear when the offer does. What can change, is the tone of the negotiation. Counter with documentation rather than argument, keep the exchange in writing, and avoid giving a recorded statement while the number is being discussed.
The offer is exactly the policy limit. Is that still low?
It may be everything available from that policy, which is a different problem than a low evaluation. Before accepting, look for other sources: your own uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, MedPay or PIP, an umbrella policy, a second at-fault driver, or an employer if the driver was working at the time.
Why did the insurer offer money before I even had bills?
Because a claim is cheapest to close early. An offer made before records exist is priced on the assumption that the injury is minor. If that assumption turns out to be correct, very little is lost by waiting. If it is wrong, accepting early is the expensive mistake and it cannot be undone.
If I accept now, can I ask for more later?
No. A settlement closes with a signed written release, and a release is final for the injuries it covers, including injuries that turn out to be worse than anyone knew at the time. That finality is exactly why the timing of an offer matters as much as the size of it.
Does hiring a lawyer just move money from the offer into the fee?
That is the right question, and the answer depends on the case. Compare net to net: what you would keep from the current offer after medical bills and liens, against what you would keep after a fee, expenses and negotiated lien reductions. Ask a firm to do that arithmetic with you before you sign.
This page is for general information only and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different and past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case. Jim Ross Law Group, P.C., 2201 E Lamar Blvd #110, Arlington, TX 76006.