Common Mistakes Made After a Car Accident

Answer:

People who’ve been hurt in car crashes oftentimes can do things that can seriously harm their claims. They don’t do it on purpose. Who’s going to go out and harm the value of their own claim? No one would do that. What can happen is that you, like the majority of people, you’re honest. You want to be helpful. You want to move your claim along the best that you can. You get a call from the insurance adjuster, “Mr. Jones, we just need to talk to you. We want to get a statement from you about what happened. You don’t mind that this is going to be recorded, do you?” You don’t have anything to hide. You’re not making anything up. You’re going to be as honest and as fair as you can with them, and so you start answering questions.

The thing is, they ask these questions in a manner that benefits them, and it doesn’t benefit you. You think you’re just giving them information, but they are asking you those questions to help them and not to help you. It could be something as easily answered as this: “When is the first time that you saw the other vehicle that ran into you?” And your answer is, “Oh, I just saw them just a moment before. It was like a flash and they crashed into me.” You’re being honest; you’re being helpful. That’s what most people say. Guess what? The adjuster’s going to come back to you and say, “Oh, you didn’t see them until the last minute. Obviously you weren’t paying attention. The wreck is your fault, not mine,” and they’re going to deny your claim or say that you are 50% at fault, and they’re going to lop off half of the value. Is that fair? Is it truthful? No! They are twisting your words when you were trying to help them.

Before you give any recorded statements or deal with an insurance adjuster, I advise you to talk to an attorney before you answer those questions. If you call me, I will tell you what you can expect and if you want to handle it on your own, you will be adequately prepared to deal with the insurance company. You have to know what their goals are and what your goals are before you ever talk to them. If they call you and catch you off-guard, you can just be trying to help them, but you can end up shooting yourself in your own foot, and you don’t want to do that. Call me before you ever talk to an insurance adjuster, and I will step you through the process.