Attorney Brenda Odufuwa Secures $250,000 Full Policy Limits for Injured Passenger

Angel Reyes & Associates Recovers Nearly Eight Times the Insurer’s Highest Offer

Attorney Brenda Odufuwa of Angel Reyes & Associates was handed a $32,000 offer for a client hurt as a passenger in a freeway rear-end collision. She didn’t take it, and the insurer eventually paid $250,000, every dollar the policy allowed.

Nobody seriously questioned who caused this crash. Our client was riding as a passenger on the freeway when the driver behind them failed to control their speed and ran into the back of the vehicle. However, even though fault was clear and the insurance company never really disputed their liability, they still made it clear from the start that they weren’t going to pay what the case was worth without a fight.

An Offer Built for a Quick Exit

Before we opted to file suit, the insurer’s highest offer had been just $32,000. That figure had very little to do with what our client was left dealing with after the crash. Instead, they put that number out to see whether our client would take a quick check and let the claim go. It’s a tactic we see frequently from insurance companies who hope that they can settle a claim for far less simply because someone wants to get it over with quickly.

Insurers will also make that bet with passengers as well as drivers. A passenger has no version of events to defend and no share of the blame to argue over. That should make a claim easier to pay fairly, but some adjusters see it the other way and treat the passenger as the cheapest person in the file to buy out.

Closing a $218,000 Gap

Attorney Odufuwa, working with pre-litigation paralegal Shell Dello and litigation paralegal Josefina Soto, based her valuation of the claim on what our client had been through. She worked with our client to carefully accumulate records and evidence to support the valuation of their injuries, and she never eased or backed off on her demand. Haggling up from $32,000 would have let the insurer set the terms, so we never started from their number. In the end, the insurer agreed to tender the full $250,000 policy limit.

What a First Offer Tells Us

A low first offer tells us what the insurer is planning and where they hope the claim will land. In more than 30 years of representing injured Texans, we have seen opening numbers and real recoveries sit far apart again and again, and closing that distance is most of the job. We measure every case by what it is worth to the person who was hurt.

If an insurance company has offered you a number that feels nowhere near what you have been through, you can say no. Contact Angel Reyes & Associates today for a free consultation. We will look at what happened, walk you through your options, and fight for the full value of your claim.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is unique and must be evaluated on its own facts and circumstances.