What should I say after a car accident to the insurance adjuster for the other party?

 

A: After a car accident, and if the accident is not your fault, the insurance company for the other party will want to speak with you. They will want to know your version of the accident. They will ask you about your property damage. They will ask you about your past medical history and your need for treatment because of this accident.

The insurance company adjusters do not contact you to help you. In fact it is quite the opposite. Their sole reason for contacting you is to set a reserve and close this claim as inexpensively as they can for their company. Don't be fooled by politeness, or feigned understanding. In the last 20 years insurance company adjusters have become more adept at prejudicing your rights and less willing to seek a solution without the involvement of an attorney.

What is a reserve? A reserve is an amount of money the insurance company must set aside after an accident based upon the probable damages that have been incurred. Reserves are mandated by state law so that insurance companies do not later go bankrupt because they have too many claims and have not raised their premiums enough.

The reserve therefore becomes a very important factor in your case. Once a reserve has been set, it is rare that an insurance company will reset the reserve higher, because they have had to report to the state and other agencies their reserves, and they are penalized if they do not properly reported those reserves.

Therefore the adjuster wants to put you in an economic box as quickly as possible. They look at your property damage and try to talk you about your injuries and treatment early. If you were in the hospital for three days, with a broken leg, but now you are upbeat about your case, telling the insurance adjuster that you're doing better allows them to consciously set your reserve lower than they actually should. you really don't know what complications may arise from your broken leg until after your cast is been removed. But the adjuster will assume you will have a normal recovery and if you do not, your case settlement will be severely hampered.  Why take any risk of setting and improper reserve. Instead first find out all the information you need to adjust your claim and then speak to the insurance company about your injuries and damages.

It is our recommendation, as experienced California personal injury and auto accident attorneys that you'd not try to handle your case at the early stages, volunteering too much information to the insurance company unnecessarily. They will wait to set the reserves if you refuse to talk to them about your physical injury. We recommend that you not discuss your injury until you've been in a consultation with an auto accident lawyer.

Allen, Flatt, Ballidis & Leslie takes cases in Orange County, Los Angeles County, San Diego County, San Bernardino County, Riverside County, Kern County, Ventura County and in the cities of Aliso Viejo, Anaheim, Brea, Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Cypress, Dana Point, Fountain Valley, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Irvine, La Habra, La Palma, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Los Alamitos, Mission Viejo, Newport Beach, Orange, Placentia, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, Stanton, Tustin, Villa Park, Westminster, Yorba Linda, Agoura Hills, Alhambra, Arcadia, Artesia, Azusa, Baldwin Park, Bellflower, Beverly Hills, Big Pines, Burbank, Carson, Century City, Cerritos, Chatsworth, China Town, City of Industry, Claremont, Commerce, Compton, Covina, Culver City, Downtown LA, Downey, Eagle Rock, El Monte, El Segundo, Encino, Gardena, Glendale, Glendora, Granada Hills, Hawaiian Gardens, Hawthorne, Hermosa Beach, Hidden Hills, Highland Park, Hollywood, Inglewood, Irwindale, Japan Town, Korea Town, La Canada/Flintridge, La Crescenta, La Habra, La Mirada, La Puente, La Verne, Lakewood, Lancaster, Lenox, Lomita, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Los Nietos, Lynwood, Manhattan Beach, Marina Del Rey, Monterey Park, Montrose, Northridge, Norwalk, Palmdale, Palos Verdes Estates, Paramount, Pasadena, Pico Rivera, Pomona, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Reseda, Rolling Hills Estates, San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel, San Marino, Santa Clarita, Santa Fe Springs, Santa Monica, Signal Hill, South Pasadena, Temple City, Torrance, Valinda, Van Nuys, Ventura County, Verdugo City, Walnut, West Covina, West Hollywood, Westlake Village, Westwood and Whittier.