Insurance company investigators and adjusters are trying to elicit information that minimizes that insurance company’s obligation to pay. They are skilled in trying to manipulate a victim into saying things that make it look like the victim caused the accident. They are also skilled in getting the victim to say things that sound like the victim does not have a serious injury or that their injuries are not great. It is important that a victim of another person’s negligence who suffers an injury has protection and an expert on their side to make sure their story is told accurately and in a way that increases their likelihood of recovering what is fair and reasonable for the losses they suffered.
Doing that on their own, expecting the insurance company to have someone’s best interest at heart, and accepting checks too early, are all common mistakes to avoid after an accident.
Insurance Companies Contacting People Who Have Been Injured in Car Accidents
There have been cases where an insurance company may call and say that you are required to give a recorded statement. They usually call on the phone, other times they may visit your residence. They do it in many ways, but it is a common practice in just about every case for the insurance company to try to get a recorded statement.
This is also what a car accident attorney does. An attorney may try to find all the witnesses and get recorded statements from those witnesses so that they cannot change their story later and the insurance company cannot get to them to change what they believe they saw. It is very important and happens in almost every case.
Mistakes in Dealing with Insurance Companies
People make this mistake because they need the insurance company to help them with repairing their car, with medical bills, and with lost wages. They are trying to be cooperative and they expect the insurance company to act like they would act if the situation were reversed and they were responsible for helping a person who has suffered a loss through no fault of their own. They would try to do what they can to give them what they needed, so they expect the insurance company is going to do the same thing.
They try to cooperate and be friendly with the insurance company and later they find out that the insurance company was only trying to minimize the amount that they have to pay.
Mistake of Accepting a Check from the Opposing Driver’s Insurance Company
That may be a mistake because that form is going to say the person is not entitled to any more money. It is a mistake to sign that unless that person is absolutely sure that they are not hurt and not going to have any more treatment, and not going to incur any more bills. If the person is not hurt, then it is not a big deal. If that person’s injuries require further treatment or may require time away from work, then that person has no idea how bad their losses are at that point. It is too early to close out the possibility of the insurance company having to pay the rest of that person’s losses, so it is a big mistake to take that check and sign that release.
However, a lot of people may think that if the insurance company gives them a check for their property damage or for something else and they cash that check, then that settles the case. In Tennessee, that is not true. If the insurance company gives the person a check and does not require that person to sign a release, then it is no release to that person if they cash that check.
