If you are hurt in a car accident, you may be contacted by an insurance adjuster who wants more information about what happened.
However, you need to be careful about what you say to these individuals. An insurance adjuster’s job is to minimize the amount of money the insurance company pays for claims. That means these individuals will try to use any information you provide to deny your claim or devalue it. The best practices below can help to avoid providing information that could damage your claim.
If you were injured in a car accident, it is important to contact an experienced Columbus car accident lawyer to help with your claim. The attorneys at O’Connor, Acciani & Levy can help protect your claim and handle communications with the insurance adjuster to protect your best interests.
Stick To The Facts
Do not speculate about why the accident occurred or who was at fault, just stick to the facts. Say that you were in an accident and provide the time and location of the crash. If you were injured and have received medical treatment or are planning to, tell the adjuster you are going to get medical treatment. However, do not speculate about the types of injuries you have or their severity.
There may be other factors involved in the accident that you do not know about. It is best to let the investigation play out. The adjuster will eventually get answers to all of his or her questions.
Avoid Giving Opinions
Avoid giving the adjuster opinions about your injuries, the cause of the accident, the amount of pain you are experiencing, the length of your recovery, or other aspects of the accident. Give the adjuster factual information and leave it at that.
You should also avoid exaggerating anything about the accident, such as your injuries. If you exaggerate, the adjuster will eventually find out, and this could hurt your chances of recovering fair compensation.
Do Not Agree To Give A Recorded Statement
Insurance adjusters may ask you to give a recorded statement. This statement is used to lock you into an official version of events and to bind you to your responses. It is important that any such official statement be accurate. For this reason, it is usually in your best interest not to provide a recorded or written statement until you have received advice and guidance from an experienced personal injury attorney.
An attorney can help ensure any recorded statements are accurate and prevent your comments from being taken out of context. We will also work to ensure you are not assigned more fault for the accident than you deserve.
Remember, You Can Refuse To Answer
If an insurance adjuster contacts you, you are within your rights to refuse to answer any of their questions. If you are asked a question and you do not know or are unsure of the answer, it is best to say you are refusing to answer right now. You can tell the adjuster later when you discover the answer, or the adjuster will figure it out on his or her own.
An insurance adjuster may try to get you to rate the severity of your injuries or ask you if you think a particular settlement offer is fair. Simply refuse to answer or say you need to seek legal counsel before answering.
Insurance adjusters will try to use anything you say against you, and if you answer a question incorrectly, it could hurt your claim. You could also inadvertently say something that the adjuster will use to assign you fault for the accident.
Contact An Attorney
If you were injured in a car accident and would like assistance in protecting your claim, one of the skilled Columbus personal injury attorneys at O’Connor, Acciani & Levy can help. We can investigate your claim, handle negotiations with the insurance company, review any statement before providing it to the adjuster and ensure that any agreed settlement fully incorporates the full extent of the damages that you have suffered.
We can discuss your legal options during a free, no-obligation consultation. We work on a contingency fee and only get paid if you win your claim.