What to Say to Your Insurance Company After a Car or Semi-Truck Accident

After being involved in a car accident, you might experience a whirlwind of emotions and it can be quite terrifying. Even if you are lucky enough to not be seriously hurt, the stress, worry and anxiety after a car accident feels awful, and could lead you to act or speak in a way that might compromise your best interests when it comes to your case.

In fact, your insurance company or that of the other driver might be waiting for you to say the wrong thing. For example, apologizing at the scene might feel natural to you if the other driver has been hurt or their car is wrecked. But while you might be saying sorry just to be nice, insurance companies might take this as an admission of fault and hold you liable for the accident, even if you weren’t at fault.

 

What to Say to the Insurance Company After an Accident

You will likely get a call from the claim adjuster from your insurance company around a few days after the accident, in which they will want to get more information on the details of what happened. It’s important to bear in mind that insurance companies are looking out for themselves rather than you. Because of this, you need to be prepared for them to be looking out for any reasons to reduce your payout as much as they can. The best way to avoid giving them anything to use to do this is to say nothing at all and hire an experience personal injury attorney.  If you find that you must provide a statement keep your conversation as short and to the point as possible. Some tips to keep in mind include:

Give General Information

When speaking to your insurance company, you are only obligated to provide general or basic details about the accident. This includes personal information about yourself such as your name, the type of car you were driving when the accident happened, the other cars involved, the names of other people involved in the accident, where the accident happened, when it happened, and information on the other driver’s insurance company.

 

Don’t Provide a Recorded Statement

You are not under any legal obligation to provide a recorded statement to your insurance company. It is important to avoid recording a final verbal statement, without consulting a good car accident or personal injury lawyer beforehand, who can help you do this in a way that is in the best interests of your case.

 

Don’t Be Too Specific

Even if you have got medical attention after being involved in the accident and are aware of the extent of your injuries, it is important to avoid giving a detailed description of them or providing a final statement regarding your injuries to the insurance company. This is because after a car crash, injuries may appear later down the line, especially if you have internal injuries that are not always obvious. Along with this, there is also the risk of your current injuries escalating into something more serious.

 

What You Should Never Say After a Car Accident

Whether you are talking to the insurance company, the other driver involved, or witnesses at the scene, it’s important to choose your words carefully after a car accident. The vocabulary that you use could lead to problems with your case after a car accident, even if you said them innocently or meaning well. Some things that you should always avoid saying after a car accident include:

Sorry

Even if you are simply the type of person who apologizes a lot and you feel bad for the other driver involved, apologizing to them is always a bad idea. Even if you think that you might be at fault for the accident, don’t say sorry to the other driver. This is because any witnesses to the interaction might see this as an admission of guilt or taking responsibility for the accident.

 

That You Don’t Have an Attorney

If you are contacted by your insurance company before you have had the chance to get in touch with us here at Karns & Karns Personal Injury & Accident Attorneys, the last thing you should do is admit to them that you don’t have a lawyer yet. If your insurance company knows that you do not have any legal representation, they might try to reduce your compensation. For example, they may offer a quick settlement, which will typically be significantly lower than the amount you could have received.

 

Let’s Handle It Ourselves

You should always tell your insurance company about any car accidents that you are involved in. It’s not uncommon if you have a minor crash that only causes a little bit of damage to your car, and has not led to any serious injuries, to consider simply not telling your insurance company about it, getting the cars fixed and getting on with your life. However, it’s important to resist the urge to avoid reporting a car accident, especially if it was only a fender bender. The truth is that you may be due compensation for any crash, and not reporting a car accident to your insurance company will only make it harder to receive the payout you are owed.

If you’ve been involved in a car crash, then it’s important to carefully choose the words you use at the scene and when talking to your insurance company. Get in touch with our experienced lawyers today if you need advice on what to say. Call us at 877-557-4221.

What the Insurance Companies Don’t Want You to Know

When you purchase insurance for your car, in theory, the insurance company is there to help you as the policyholder if you get into an accident. If you are involved in a car accident or sustain a serious injury while driving, then you will need to file a claim with an insurance company in the hope of receiving compensation for any medical expenses you have incurred, loss of income due to not being able to work while you recover from the injuries, and pain and suffering.

Unfortunately, the truth is that insurance companies are more interested in making a profit than they are in helping you. For that reason, there are quite a few things that your insurance company doesn’t want you to know. If you were aware, then you’d be standing in the way of them making money!

So, what are some of the things that insurance companies would rather be kept a secret? Read on to find out more.

 

What You Say Can be Used Against You

After a car accident, your insurance company may ask you to provide a recorded statement addressing what happened and the damage that was done. However, you are under no legal obligation to do this, and it is recommended that you don’t unless you’re doing it with a personal injury or car accident attorney who can help you make sure that you are describing the accident in a way that does not incriminate yourself. In fact, even casual remarks that you make while talking with claims adjusters can be taken as formal statements – especially if you are speculating about whether or not the accident was your fault or describing your injuries. Because of this, it’s important to only stick to the basics when talking about your claim and consult a car accident attorney before giving any statements.

 

Insurance Adjusters are Great At Negotiating

After a car accident, you might simply want to get your money and move on with your life – and the claims adjuster will know this. They might pressure you to accept a settlement offer or even give you a deadline, telling you that you only have a few hours to accept or that this is the best offer that they can come up with. However, it’s best to avoid falling for these tactics and don’t accept the first offer you are given. If you are not confident when it comes to your negotiation skills to get a better offer, you have the right to seek outside counsel and hire a car accident lawyer to negotiate on your behalf.

 

Adjusters Might be Lying to You

Don’t assume that your insurance adjuster is always being truthful with you when it comes to talking about your claim. For example, they might use information that they know about you, such as existing health conditions to tell you that you are not going to be able to make a claim for the injuries you have suffered in the car accident. However, this is not always the truth. There are lots of things that insurance adjusters might say to you in the hope that you don’t know any better and to see if they can get away with it, which is why it’s always best to have an attorney liaise with them on your behalf.  Insurance adjusters are sales people. They want to sell your claim for the lowest price possible.

 

Claims Adjusters are There to Make Money

We’d all like to believe that the insurance company is there to help us. However, the truth is that most of them have the main goal of simply making money for the company. While the claims adjuster might seem like a nice and helpful person while you are speaking to them, their main job is to try and reduce your claim as much as possible, or even try to have it completely denied. Bear in mind that the insurance company does not make any money from helping you, and the claims adjuster works for them.

 

They Hire Doctors to Find Pre-Existing Injuries and Minimize Your Claim

If you allow your insurance company access to your medical records when you sign an authorization form, then they are going to use this to find as much information as possible to minimize your claim. To do this, they will often hire doctors who are there to look through your medical records to try and find any records of a pre-existing condition or injury that they can use to throw doubt on your claim. They might then use this to claim that your injury is not as severe as you say it is. Even if your own doctor is backing you up, the insurance company will hire their own doctors to try and contradict this.

 

They Don’t Want You to Hire a Lawyer

If you have been involved in a car accident, then the first thing you should do is hire a personal injury lawyer. However, your insurance company might want to try to convince you from doing this. They might tell you that hiring a lawyer isn’t worth the cost or that having an attorney is unlikely to help you get a better offer. In most cases, they are hoping that you don’t hire a lawyer so that they are less likely to have to pay out a decent settlement for your case, hoping that without legal counsel you may agree to a seriously low-ball offer just to get it over and done with. Don’t fall for it! Hire an experience personal injury attorney.

 

You Can Sue Insurance Companies for Unethical Practices

Any practices that act against the best interests of the policyholder are considered to be unethical insurance practices. Insurance companies should always act in accordance with accountability laws, but some assume you won’t know about them. A good lawyer will help ensure that your insurance company is held accountable if they act in a way that is against your best interests.

If you’ve been involved in a car accident, Karns & Karns Personal Injury & Accident Attorneys can help you make sure that you’re not falling foul of these insurance company practices. We can liaise with the insurance company on your behalf. Get in touch today for a free consultation and to find out more. Call Karns & Karns Personal Injury & Accident Attorneys now at 877-557-4221.