As a former adjuster, I used to look forward to this time of year. Sure, the holidays are great. I got more time off and could spend time with my family. The vendors brought in tons of great treats for us. But it also was settlement time.
Settlement time was the time of year when we could settle a large number of cases quickly. The reason? People wanted money for the holidays. If a case could settle between Halloween and Thanksgiving, the claimant, the person making the claim, would have the money in time to spend it on presents. If the case settled between Thanksgiving and the end of the year, the claimant would have money to pay off the bills that were run up during the holidays.
As an adjuster, we knew that people would settle for less money during this time of year than the case was worth. If the case was worth $10,000, the person would settle for $6,000 or $7,000. The claim would always settle for less than its full value this time of year.
As a claimant, you do not want to settle cheaply. Your case is worth what it is worth. (If you do not know what it is worth, you should talk to an attorney about the value of your case.) If you must settle now, make sure you are still settling for the full value of the case. Do not give the insurance company a discount because it is the holiday season. Do not make that your gift to the adjuster.