The Lowball Index
How much do car insurance claim offers move between the first number and the final payment? The Lowball Index answers that from real claims our readers report anonymously through the Claim Outcome Survey.
Collecting answers
0 settled claims reported so far. We publish from 30.
We won't publish a number until enough answers back it up. If you have settled a car insurance claim, your answer brings the first results closer.
Add my claim (30 seconds)How the numbers are worked out
- Change from first offer = (final payment − first offer) ÷ first offer, for each claim. We show the median, the middle answer, so one huge settlement can't skew it.
- "Pushed back" means the claimant reported at least one step: a written counter-offer, their own estimates or comparables, appraisal, a state complaint, a lawyer or public adjuster, or court.
- Only settled claims count. Answers about claims that are still open are stored but left out of these numbers.
- Every new answer is checked by hand before it counts, and answers that look scripted or made up are deleted.
- A group (a claim type or an insurer) appears only once it has 30 settled answers.
- The pushed-back and didn't-push-back columns show a number once that part of the group has at least 10 answers.
- Answers where the final amount is more than 10 times, or less than a tenth of, the first offer are treated as probable typos and left out.
These are self-reported answers from people who found this site, not a random sample. People who pushed back may be more likely to answer, and claims differ in ways six questions can't capture. Treat the numbers as a guide to what's common, not a prediction for your claim.