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Let me tell you about Sarah. She got rear-ended sitting at a red light—wasn’t her fault, obviously. Whiplash, concussion, couldn’t work for three months. You know what her insurance company offered her? $1,200.

When I asked the adjuster how they came up with that joke of a number, he said “that’s what the computer recommended.” The computer. Not a person who looked at Sarah’s medical bills or understood that she couldn’t even drive for weeks. A computer!

That program is called Colossus, and if you’ve ever filed an insurance claim, there’s a good chance it’s the reason you got lowballed.

What the Heck Is Colossus?

Colossus is software that insurance companies use to evaluate personal injury claims. Basically, it’s a fancy (and now, artificial intelligence) calculator that takes your accident info, runs it through some formulas, and spits out how much they think you’re worth.

The catch? It was built by insurance companies to save insurance companies money. Shocker, right?

Here’s how it works: the insurance adjuster types in details about your crash and injuries. The software assigns codes to everything—your broken arm gets a code, your physical therapy gets a code, your three weeks off work gets a code. Then it crunches all those numbers and tells the adjuster what to offer you.

Spoiler alert: it’s always less than what you actually deserve.

How They’re Gaming the System

Your Pain Doesn’t Compute

Try explaining to a computer program what it feels like to have chronic back pain. 

You can’t, because pain isn’t math.  But Colossus tries to turn it into math anyway. The software might treat your herniated disc the same as someone’s muscle strain just because they both involve “back injury.” Your sleepless nights, your inability to pick up your kids, your constant aching—none of that shows up in the algorithm.

Adjusters Play Games With the Data

Remember, humans are still entering the information into Colossus. And those humans work for insurance companies, not you.

I’ve seen adjusters “forget” to mention ongoing physical therapy. I’ve seen them downgrade a concussion to a “minor head injury.” In Sarah’s case, they completely ignored her follow-up appointments and coded her concussion symptoms as “resolved” when she was still having headaches and memory issues.

It’s not always malicious—sometimes they’re just lazy or overworked.  Even worse, they are brand new adjusters who don’t know how to input the data correctly.. But the result is the same: you get screwed.

It’s Rigged From the Start

Let’s be clear about something: Colossus wasn’t designed to be fair. It was designed to pay out as little as possible while looking scientific and objective.  Remember, it was made for insurance companies.

The insurance industry spent millions developing this software. You think they did that to pay you more money? Come on.

Real People, Real Problems

This isn’t some abstract issue. I’ve seen what happens when Colossus gets it wrong:

Complete Claim Denials: The software decides your injuries “aren’t severe enough” and boom—claim denied. Doesn’t matter what your doctor says.

Insulting Settlement Offers: Medical bills alone are $15,000, but Colossus says you’re worth $3,000. Take it or leave it.

Endless Fighting: You know your claim is worth more, but proving it means battling an algorithm that the insurance company treats like gospel.

Who’s Using This Thing?

Pretty much everybody. Allstate, State Farm, USAA, Farmers, The Hartford, Travelers, Progressive — the list goes on and on. Even companies that don’t use Colossus specifically have their own version of claim-crushing software.

If you’ve filed a claim in the last 15 years, odds are a computer program had more say in your settlement than any human being.

How to Fight Back

1. Ask the Right Questions

First thing: find out if they used software to evaluate your claim. Just ask them straight up. Some companies have to tell you (Allstate got sued and now has to disclose it), but others will try to dodge the question.

2. Demand to See Their Work

If they used Colossus, they should show you the range of values it calculated—not just the lowball number they offered. These programs usually generate a range, but adjusters love to pretend only the minimum exists.

3. Document Everything

Keep records of every doctor visit, every missed day of work, every way this accident screwed up your life. The more detailed your documentation, the harder it is for them to input garbage data and get away with it.

4. Check Their Math

If you can get your hands on what they entered into the system, look for mistakes. Missing treatments, wrong injury codes, downplayed symptoms—it’s all fair game for challenge.

When You Need Help

If your claim got denied or you got offered peanuts, especially if you suspect they used software to screw you, it might be time to call a lawyer.

These companies have teams of people and million-dollar software working against you. Fighting back on your own is like bringing a knife to a gunfight.

The Bottom Line

Here’s what really bothers me off about this whole thing: insurance is supposed to be there when you need help. You pay premiums every month, trusting that if something bad happens, they’ll take care of you.

Instead, they’re using computers to find reasons to pay you less.

Every accident is different. Every injury affects people differently. But Colossus treats you like a data point in a spreadsheet. Your broken collarbone is the same as everyone else’s broken collarbone, your lost wages are just another number to plug into the formula.

That’s not how real life works.

Don’t Get Played

Insurance companies want you to think Colossus makes things fair and scientific. What it actually does is give them cover to lowball your claim while acting like their hands are tied.

“Sorry, that’s what the computer says you’re worth.”

NO!  The computer says what they programmed it to say.

Your injuries matter. Your pain matters. Your financial losses matter. Don’t let some algorithm decide what your suffering is worth, especially when that algorithm was designed by the people writing the check.

Know what you’re up against, ask the right questions, and don’t take their first offer as the final word. You deserve better than what a computer thinks you’re worth.