Car Wrecks: Should you talk with their insurance company?

After a car wreck, the at-fault party’s insurance company may be blowing your phone up before you even make it home. It’s normal to get confused and to be in a state of shock in the hours immediately following an auto accident. The pain, shock, and trauma from the accident can cloud your thinking can affect your ability to make appropriate decisions. Insurance companies know this, and usually want to get you to provide them with a recorded statement that they can use against you later.

Insurance companies exist to turn a profit, not to fix their insured’s problems. So it’s important to remember that neither the insurer for the person at fault for the accident, nor your own, have your best interests at heart. What they really want is to settle your claim as cheaply and quickly as they can.

Dealing With the Insurance Company After A Tulsa Car Wreck

Although you’re generally obligated to cooperate your own insurance company to give them basic facts surrounding an auto accident, its’ advisable to speak with an Oklahoma car wreck lawyer first to ensure that you approach any conversation you have with your insurance company in a manner that won’t later come back to haunt you. However, you are not obligated to cooperate with the insurance company for the at-fault party.

If the at-fault insurance company does attempt contact you, respectfully decline to speak to them, and instead give them the contact information of your attorney. Do not let them draw you into a conversation, as insurance adjustors are trained in drawing out information from claimants. Anything you say regarding liability, fault or your injuries can and will be used against you, and can later make it more difficult to resolve your claim. We will often have potential clients come to us months after an accident after attempting to resolve the claim on their own, and there are times that the damage done by recorded and written statements makes it difficult to favorably resolve the claim.

Even if you think that an accident is partially your fault, it is vital that you never admit liability until you have spoken to a TUlsa car wreck lawyer. If you elect not to speak to an experienced car accident lawyer before speaking with the insurer, you may provide information or documents, in innocence, that substantially weakens your case. For example, the other driver’s insurance company will likely ask that you sign a release for it to obtain your medical records. This may be presented to you as a simple routine request, but in reality, the insurance company will attempt to use records to later refute the nature and extent of your injuries..

The takeaway from cooperating with the other driver’s insurance company following an Oklahoma car wreck? Don’t. Whatever the circumstances surrounding a car accident,retaining an experienced car wreck lawyer will ensure that your rights are protected, and ensure that you aren’t taken advantage of. If you’ve been in an accident, after calling the police or other first responders, should be to Wandres law for a free consultation.