| Should
I Talk To An Insurance Adjuster About The Crash?
Most
insurance contracts require that you as the insured must cooperate
with your own insurance company when a claim is filed. This
means that if your own insurance company contacts
you, you will likely have to discuss the accident with them.
However, if you have already retained an attorney by the
time you are contacted by your own insurance company you should
tell them to contact your attorney to arrange any discussion
or meeting about the accident.
Generally, you are not legally required to cooperate or discuss
the accident with the insurance company for the other driver.
However, this does not usually stop the other insurance company
from attempting to contact you and obtain a statement from
you about how the accident occurred and any resulting injuries.
Be very wary about adjusters who contact you requesting a
statement from you or other information such as medical records,
etc in order to "settle your claim." For the most
part, the only reason the adjuster for the other insurance
company wants your statement is so they can attempt to build
a defense against your claim or minimize their payment of
the claim. More than once adjusters have contacted unsuspecting
accident victims under the pretext of helping them settle
the claim and then turn around and use the information obtained
from the victim in an attempt to minimize the claim.
Moreover, your medical condition may not be fully diagnosed
or known when you speak with an adjuster for the other insurance
company and therefore an inaccurate picture of your damages
may get conveyed. One of the reasons adjusters attempt to
contact victims early on in the case is so they can set a
reserve value which they believe the case is worth.
Once that reserve value of the case is established, it becomes
very difficult to get an adjuster to settle the case above
that amount. If inaccurate information went into the setting
of the reserve amount, then you have effectively ensured that
litigation must be filed and the case potentially tried to
a judge or jury instead of a reasonable settlement offer being
extended.
However, this does not mean that you should avoid speaking
to all adjusters in every case. If your injuries are conclusively
established as minimal or it is clear that the total insurance
coverage available is minimal, and no other coverage is available,
you may wish to talk to the adjuster to conclude the matter
quickly. This could also work to your advantage if the police
report clearly places fault on the other driver.
If you are in doubt about whether or not to talk to an adjuster,
you should consult an attorney. Once you inform the adjuster
that you have retained an attorney, they are prohibited from
contacting you directly again. They must work through your
attorney to resolve the matter. Many people prefer not to
negotiate or deal with the adjuster and would prefer an experienced
attorney to handle the matter for them. More often than not,
the attorney will be more successful in getting you a fair
settlement or judgment than most people can obtain on their
own with the adjuster. This is because attorneys know how
adjusters evaluate the value of a case and know what courts
will likely award for similar injuries if the case does not
settle.
Some insurance companies have recently been sued for sending
out written information to their insureds telling them not
to contact an attorney. Be careful if an insurance adjuster
tells you not to hire an attorney. This usually means that
they are trying to offer you a "low ball" settlement
and do not want you to know it.
Although the decision to speak to the insurance adjuster
for the other company is really a judgment call on your part,
it is usually wise to contact an attorney before you do so
to make sure you do not inadvertently hurt your own claim.
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