For years, cj Advertising has run lawyer ads citing the factoid that “injured people with a lawyer get three times more money.” If you’re considering such an ad and you’re worried if the most recent figures still support this claim, you can breathe easy. They do!
The Insurance Research Council (IRC) has published its 2014 report titled “Attorney Involvement In Auto Injury Claims.” This study reconfirms the three times more statistic and offers a few other nuggets that are favorable to the personal injury cause!
The Backstory
Periodically, the IRC examines the effect of attorney involvement and its interaction with injuries, medical treatment, compensation, and the settlement process of auto injury claims.
Going back to 1999 and beyond, the team at cj Advertising has always combed these IRC reports for stat-based messages we could pepper into our ads. The greatest takeaway of all was this:
Injured people with a lawyer, on average, get three (and a half) times more money than people without a lawyer.
In our TV ads alone, that factoid has appeared more than 100,000 times for law firms around the country. Heck, we’re still using it across all media for both new and veteran clients. You know why? Because it works! In an industry with such strict rules against comparing services and promising results, a stat like this offers the proof-positive reassurance that accident victims are looking for.
Yeah, yeah… get to the good stuff!
According to the latest research, lawyers are still getting OVER three times more money for their auto-accident clients. Here’s a screen grab of the table comparing the total payments for 17,473 BI claims:
As shown in the circled section, 16,658 ÷ 4,699 = 3.54. That’s actually three and a half times more!
Here’s why this is a big deal. Since law firms don’t really conglomerate on a national level, it’s impossible to find comprehensive data from the lawyer side. And though many firms within the cj family have internal data that far outpaces the IRC’s findings, most state bars won’t just “take our word for it.” These insurance reports are number-cruncher gold.
We intend to keep using the three times more message and other similar factoids in our advertising. We advise all PI firms to do the same. For a complete look at the report, head over to the IRC website to purchase this and other interesting reports.
Other Interesting Facts From the IRC
• More accident victims are hiring attorneys. In 2012, attorney involvement for BI claims rose to a 10-year high of 50%. Attorney involvement for Personal Injury Protection (PIP) claims peaked to an all-time high of 36%.
• Attorneys get people more medical care. Injured people represented by a lawyer get more medical visits to a greater variety of doctors and receive substantially more treatment than people without an attorney.
• The IRC is trying to put a negative spin on this. The IRC downplays the benefit of hiring an attorney by ginning up something they call the “net BI payment ratio.” Basically, it’s a narrowly focused, mathematical concoction that ignores an attorney’s ability to negotiate lower costs and combine policies to increase a claimant’s total settlement.
• The table only applies to BI claims. Throughout this report, the IRC examines both BI and PIP claims. Yet, when it gets to the three times more table, it only discusses BI claims. I have no idea why. Attorneys in strict no-fault states may have to pass on the three times more message.
Feel free to leave your own comments on our interpretation of the three times more statistic. Coming soon… I’ll post about another recent IRC study that contains a variety information every personal injury lawyer should see. Thanks for reading.
Photo credit: HIggins 3
