When In Doubt, Take Action? Not Always…
I’m sitting at home playing solitaire on my iPhone when the phone rings. I can’t recall the number, but it’s vaguely familiar. I answer, “Hello?”
“Hello, is this Tyler Ter….Tervoo….”
“Tervooren. Yes, this is him. How can I help you?”
“Hi, Mr. Terv…Terver…Terveren. I’d like to talk about settling your auto claim.”
It’s Ethan, the claims adjuster I’ve spoken to a few times now. I was recently in a rear-end collision, and Ethan has my car in his shop, estimating it for repairs. He explains the car is a “total loss”—they won’t fix it—and they’ll write me a check for its value instead.
He breaks out a bunch of insurance lingo—leaving me completely confused about what he’d just said (confusion may actually be a claims adjuster tactic)—but, at the end, tells me I can come into his office, sign a few papers, and be out the door with a check to go buy a new car.
I’m not quite sure what to do. Is this really the best offer to accept? The accident has definitely put a small speed bump in my daily schedule, and I’m eager to get back to normal, so the idea of settling up today and being done with it is tempting.
In a lot of situations, the best advice is this: When you don’t know what to do, do something. But is that always the best advice? Hell no!
I’m in a situation where I have no idea what I’m doing, and I’m negotiating with an expert—someone who does exactly this all day every day. You don’t have to be a genius to see how that would likely turn out for me.
So, despite my great desire to take action, get the deal done, and be on my way, I chose to tell Ethan, “I’m sorry, I need some time to think about this,” and hung up the phone.
Turns out, nothing was exactly the right thing to do. In the moment, Ethan had me excited about the prospect of getting my car sorted out. But as soon as I hung up the phone and started googling, “How to negotiate with a claims adjuster,” I learned that, had I accepted his deal, I would have made a grave mistake.
You see, during my wreck, I had a few injuries I’m being treated for. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a doctor, so I’d forgotten how expensive medical bills can be. If I’d signed the papers Ethan wanted me to and cashed his check, I’d have given up my right to bill them for my rehabilitation. And, unfortunately, insurance companies are not exactly in the business of saying, “Oh, I’m sorry you forgot about that. Let us take care of it for you.” Once the papers are signed, you’re done!
Luckily, I reminded myself I was stressed and feeling pressured to settle on something that didn’t need to be settled right away—a state men like myself are proven to handle poorly.
Attempting to fix one part of my problem would have ended up causing much bigger problems down the road.
Taking big actions during times of uncertainty can be the right approach, but perhaps only when the risk of loss is both great and immediate.
- Your friend is drowning in a swimming pool? Save them!
- Your wife is going to leave you if you don’t get your act together? Get your act together! Fast!
- All your frequent flyer miles are about to expire? Do something!
But when you’re stressed out, don’t know what you’re doing, and getting it right the first time is actually important, the best move may be to do nothing at all. At least at first.
Once you’re done doing nothing (don’t spend too long on that part), start taking smaller actions with smaller risks that will lead you to the right thing to do. You can fail a lot at those if it leads to better odds at the end of the line.
I spent the next few days researching how insurance claims work and getting advice from an acquaintance who’s a lawyer. Now, when Ethan calls again, I will know what to do.