Usually, several days after a car accident, you will be contacted by an insurance adjuster representing the other driver's insurance company. The adjuster will ask you to consent to a recorded statement. If you consent, they will proceed to ask all sorts of questions about the circumstances surrounding the wreck, your injuries, the medical care you have received and the nature of your claim. While they may seem harmless at the time, these questions have typically been developed by large insurance companies with years of experience and are designed to minimize their exposure and, consequently, reduce your recovery. They are not designed to help you and often cause considerable damage to your claim.
The insurance company for the opposing driver does not have the right to require a recorded statement from you and you are under no duty or obligation to provide one. At Burnside Wall LLP, we usually recommend our clients not to provide such recorded statements until they have consulted with us and we are with them at the time the recorded statement is given. The reasons for this are simple. Nothing good can come out of giving a recorded statement to the opposing party's insurance adjuster, but bad things can happen. You may inadvertently leave out an important detail; you may forget to mention some injury that you are suffering from; or, your injury may not have manifested itself as of yet; you may even accidentally agree with some fact that is incorrect. Later, the insurance company will use your recorded statement against you.
Another consideration is this: if you are going to voluntarily give a recorded statement, isn't it only fair that we, your lawyers, be allowed to take the other driver's statement too? Sometimes, we will agree to a recorded statement but only if the insurance company reciprocates by making their insured available so we can question him/her also. The insurance companies usually decline this offer—a telling tribute to just how harmful these statements can be.
Don't be confused, however, about who is asking for the information. You absolutely do have a duty to cooperate with your own insurance carrier. After an automobile accident, you should immediately contact your agent or your insurance company and report the accident. Your insurance company has a right to investigate the accident, which investigation may include obtaining a recorded statement from you concerning the circumstances surrounding the accident. Your insurance policy, which is a contract between you and your insurance company, obligates you to cooperate with them in a reasonable manner.
If you have been injured in an automobile accident, contact one of the experienced attorneys at Burnside Wall LLP for a free initial consultation before agreeing to give a recorded statement.
DISCLAIMER: Every automobile wreck presents a unique set of facts and circumstances. These suggestions, on the other hand, are very general in nature and may or may not be appropriate in your particular case. Therefore, these suggestions are not intended as legal advice for your case and should not be relied upon as such. For legal advice and a free initial consultation about your automobile wreck case, please contact one of the attorneys at Burnside Wall LLP.
To help us better understand your Personal Injury issue, please fill out our intake form.
