This is all obviously incredibly unfair for car accident injury victims. Adjusters complain to me that they have been relegated to gathering and inputting information into the computer and conveying the computer’s non-negotiable settlement valuations, just as insurance defense lawyers like to complain to me that they just “carry water” but adjusters rarely listen to them anymore. I have many claims adjuster friends from being in this business for almost 30 years, and most tell me that even if they wanted to, adjusters still would not have the authority to settle. Most auto insurance companies strictly prohibit their claims adjusters from settling a claim for any amount over the settlement range calculated by the Colossus computer software program.
Claims adjusters have limited authority to negotiate beyond the range of what the claims software settlement range is for a given injury, and often can come under fire and even be financially penalized for doing so.
Rather than being one of many factors for claims adjusters and auto insurance companies to consider in determining the settlement value of a car accident victim’s injuries, in most cases it ends up being the only factor that is used by auto insurance companies. While the Colossus personal injury calculator could theoretically have some value in the claims handling process, the reality is that this software has been abused by insurance companies and has itself been the basis of several bad faith lawsuits and state attorney general settlements.
The premise behind claims assessment software is that settlement values can be continually driven lower over time by calculating a median of what a particular injury is worth, and then offering less. The Colossus personal injury calculator is a computer claims software program that many auto insurance companies use to generate a range of what a settlement value is for an injury based on various factors and location.
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