Knowing what to do in the event of a car accident, ATV accident, motorcycle accident, or dog bite resulting in personal injury is important to your physical and financial well-being. Check out Tip #4 of the Ten Tips to Maximize Personal Injury Recovery by our Toledo, Ohio personal injury attorneys.
4. Don’t provide a statement to the adjuster.
If an insurance adjuster contacts you, don’t make any statements about the accident, your physical condition, and whether you’re being treating by a doctor. The adjuster may be recording your conversation and certainly will be taking notes. You can settle any claims dealing with the damage to your vehicle, but any statements you make about your injuries could come back to haunt you. Simply thank the adjuster for calling, tell her that you don’t want to make any statements, and that you don’t want her to call back. Tell the adjuster you’ll initiate a conversation when you’re ready. You don’t have to be rude, but you need to be firm. The adjuster can’t make you talk.
It’s a foreign concept to most people, but you have to view your injury case with the idea that it could go to trial. Most cases don’t, but you don’t want to hinder your negotiating strength by making a statement to an adjuster that can be misconstrued or twisted. The concern about making a statement is that you may not know the extent of your injuries right after an accident. It’s not uncommon for people to feel worse in the weeks or months following the accident than they do in the immediate aftermath.
One way to avoid awkward conversations with an adjuster or making statements that could hurt your case is to contact a lawyer to represent you. Your lawyer will stop the adjuster from having any further contact with you.
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