Most car accident victims are naturally trusting of those who appear to be sympathetic. However, it can be a bad idea to speak to certain people at this time. One of the people who may call on you is the accident adjuster. Adjusters are tasked with interviewing the parties involved in a wreck and determining, among other things, the cause of the accident. Read on and find out what to do when the adjuster calls.
Your Adjuster and Their Adjuster
In most cases, accident victims should speak to their own insurance company after an accident. Call to report the accident as soon as you can. Often, the adjuster will call you back and ask you some questions about the accident with the interview being recorded. Don't hesitate to talk to the adjuster for your own insurer. However, be sure you clearly understand which insurance agency the caller represents. If it's the other driver's insurance company, tell them you cannot talk at this time and that you will get back to them.
What to Know About the Other Driver's Insurance Adjuster
The other driver's insurance adjuster may ask you to answer a few questions about the accident and be recorded while doing so—just as your own insurer did. However, the relationship between you and this adjuster is very different. They are not on your side, no matter how friendly and sympathetic they seem to be when they call. Their job is to mitigate their own client's liability by getting you to damage your case by what you say.
Tricks They Use
The other side's adjuster may seem nice, but they are only trying to get you to relax and reveal information that could harm your case. They employ certain tactics like the following:
- They call on you before you are well enough to answer questions about the accident. They are counting on the trauma of the accident to make you guess at answers and speculate about what happened.
- They know that accident victims need to talk about what happened. It can be therapeutic to vent and express emotions.
- They often ask victims open-ended questions to encourage victims to ramble on and say something damaging. For instance, the victim might eventually mention that they were involved in a previous accident that was similar.
- The answers you provide could vary in detail from other statements you made to your insurance, and that could impact your veracity.
If your auto accident attorney knew that you were speaking to the other side, they would warn you to hang up and let them handle things. That is what victims need to do to avoid ruining their case against a driver that clearly owes them money damages. To find out more, speak to an auto accident lawyer at once.
