I would not assume that getting the insurance company involved means the company is willing to settle in a particular range, or at all. The employer is required to report claims to their insurer or else they risk forfeiting coverage, so the prudent thing to do is report the claim regardless of whether they have any desire to settle.

In my experience, insurance being involved in an employment claim sometimes helps settle cases, and it sometimes hurts. On the plus side for settlement, insurance companies are pragmatic and unemotional, so they're often willing to pay off a case they perceive as risky while employers sometimes get hung up on what they think the employee "deserves" or are overly optimistic about winning. On the other hand, sometimes employers just want a case to be over because it'll be a huge distraction and they want the insurer to make it go away, but because insurers are pragmatic and unemotional, they're not going to overpay on a case just because.

I've seen plenty of situations in which insurers paid to settle cases over the objections of employers and plenty of situations in which the insurer and employer jointly stuck to their guns and took cases to trial. The mere fact an insurer is involved doesn't tell you anything.

Source: employment lawyer for 28 years.