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You may be caught off guard if the insurance adjuster for the driver who hit you contacts you soon after your crash inquiring about your health. He may sound truly interested in how you are feeling and in processing your claim quickly. Often the adjuster will ask you to give a recorded statement to help speed up paying your claim. However, you want to be wary of talking to the insurance adjuster at all and should never agree to give a recorded statement. Doing so could create a hurdle in your attempts to obtain the compensation you deserve and may delay the settlement of your claim.
A recorded statement is a question and answer session between the adjuster and you where you answer questions about how the crash happened and your injuries. It is tape recorded, and a written record is created of your statement that can be used later in negotiating your settlement and at any court hearings. While the insurance adjuster may want your statement in part to compare to the one he probably obtained from his insured driver, he has other reasons for wanting your statement.
The insurance adjuster’s job is to save money for the insurance company he works for. He does this by denying or reducing insurance claims—often legitimate ones. His overall goal is to get you to say something that hurts your case and that he can use to delay, deny, and reduce your claim.
The insurance adjuster may tell you or at least imply that you are required to give a recorded statement in order for your claim to be paid. This is untrue. You are not required to give a recorded statement, and your refusal to do so does not affect your right to compensation for your injuries. In fact, it could be disastrous to your case to agree to this.
Insurance adjusters are trained in how to effectively take a recorded statement and to ask questions that can help the overall goal of denying your claim. They also have extensive experience taking these statements. Ways adjusters can get you to hurt your claim include:
If an adjuster contacts you for a recorded statement—or for any other reason—you want the help of an experienced car accident attorney who can take over communications with the insurance adjuster and negotiate a fair settlement for you. Call our office at 855.947.0707 to schedule your free case evaluation.