DEALING WITH INSURANCE AFTER A CAR ACCIDENT
Six tips for dealing with insurance after a car accident. Dealing with insurance companies after you’ve been injured in an accident can be a very unpleasant experience. Here are six tips for dealing with insurance adjusters after an auto accident.
Often times, those who are injured in a motor vehicle accident will be treated at a hospital emergency room, or their primary care doctor, and have no idea what to do next. Once you get home from treatment, you may be left wondering, “What now? . . . Do I file an insurance claim? . . . Do I need a lawyer? . . . WHAT DO I DO???” Probably the last thing you want, is to have an overbearing adjuster from an insurance company blowing your phone up. And regardless of the circumstances of the accident, who was at fault, or how serious your injuries may have been, you can expect them to call.
SIX TIPS FOR DEALING WITH INSURANCE COMPANIES FOLLOWING A CAR ACCIDENT
- DO NOT DISCUSS YOUR INJURIES – Whiplash, sprains, strains, pulls, tears, etc. . . can be very painful and require continuing medical treatment. Physical therapy, orthopedic rehabilitation, or chiropractic treatment, just to name a few, can take months and be very costly. Insurance companies love to minimize these injuries into the catch-all category of “soft tissue injuries”. When settling an injury claim, an insurance company will likely have access to your treatment records, complete with diagnosis codes, and a medical bill for services rendered. Those records will speak for themselves. When talking to an insurance adjuster, it is fine to say, “I hurt my . . . right shoulder, or . . . neck, or . . . lower back, or . . . left knee, or . . . right ankle, or . . . big toe, or whatever it is you hurt”. . . and leave it at that.
- FAULT – Never admit fault when talking to an insurance company. If the police were dispatched to the scene of the accident, they have more than likely already assigned fault. If an insurance adjuster asks you what happened in the accident, do not say anything that may be construed as your being at fault. Not even if the other party ran a red light or a stop sign, or turned into your lane. Insurance companies may often dispute liability by saying you failed to maintain a proper lookout. If, however, you have access to the Police FR-10 Incident Report, and the other party is marked YES under “Contributed to Collision” and your are marked NO under “Contributed to Collision” then tell the adjuster, “The police found the other person at fault, and I was found not at fault.”
- WHAT IF I AM AT FAULT? – Insurance companies have folks on staff that are paid to investigate accidents. Don’t do their job for them. You may not have all the facts. There may be contributing factors you are not aware of. For instance, the other party may have been driving under the influence or driving on a revoked license. Again, don’t admit fault. If, through their investigation, the insurance company finds you at fault and you do not agree with the finding, this is a fight you can take up at a later time.
- DO NOT ACCEPT A QUICK SETTLEMENT – There is no hurry! Yes, we all want to get a check, BUT . . . you may cost yourself quite a bit of money by accepting the first offer an insurance company throws out there. There are many factors that go into valuing an injury claim, including but not limited to: medical bills, prescription costs, lost wages from work, pain and suffering, emotional trauma or PTSD, any permanent visible scarring or some long term physical impairment that is suffered as a result of the accident. A quick settlement offer from an insurance adjuster may include your initial hospital bill only, and a couple days of lost work. Be on guard, the adjusters are trained to talk to you like you’re their best friend and are just trying to help. They are not. Their goal is to save money and maximize profits for the insurance company. Did you know, with one trip to the ER following a car accident, you may very well have an EMS, or ambulance, bill, an ER Physicians bill, which is separate from the hospital bill, a radiology bill, and even an anesthesiologist bill, in addition to the hospital bill, itself?
- NO WRITTEN OR RECORDED STATEMENTS – I cannot stress this enough, insurance companies want to get a written or recorded statement for their use and benefit only. The insurance adjusters are trained on how to question you. They are often trying to trip you up or trick you into saying something that allows them to deny liability or devalue the claim, all while coming across like a long lost friend. If a recorded or written statement is of no benefit to them, it magically disappears, never to be heard or seen again. Again, there is ZERO benefit to you, and great potential benefit to the insurance company. So, don’t do it. As an attorney, I have had insurance companies request written or recorded statements from some clients. In that case, I will have the client email their written statement to me, for my review and decide whether or not to forward to the insurance adjuster. It is my Law Firm’s policy not to allow recorded statements, but I will be glad to facilitate a three way call, with me on the line, and under the condition it is NOT recorded. If an adjuster insists on a recorded phone call, I tell them as politely as possible, “That’s what depositions are for.”
- NEED HELP? – Following your car accident, if you would rather not deal with an insurance company at all, I would be happy to deal with them on your behalf! Trust me, I get it! Whether it be the lizard, the emu, Mr. Mayhem the good neighbor, or the good neighbor’s neighbor, Flo; I talk with them on a daily basis. I don’t blame you for not wanting to deal with them. Let me do it for you! Just call any attorney that can help you with a Personal Injury Claim. I would be honored for you to call me, Luke Adams Law, or contact me online. I will answer any questions you have and work with you to get you what you deserve!
Be sure to visit this site in the coming weeks for more blogs giving advice on what to do following an auto accident!
