Should You Speak With the Other Driver’s Insurance Company After an Accident?
- After an accident, it’s advised not to speak with the other driver’s insurance company.
- You are not legally required to speak with the other driver’s insurance company or give a recorded statement.
- They often employ tactics to use your statements against you, potentially minimizing your payout.
- You should report the accident to your own insurance company.
Whenever you are injured in a car accident, the other driver’s insurance company will likely contact you soon after. Insurance companies employ skilled adjusters and lawyers to minimize your payout. One way they accomplish this is by using your statements against you. When you’re injured, don’t let a wealthy insurance company take advantage of you. Let the experienced car accident lawyers at Cutter Law, P.C., handle these communications for you.
Insurance companies do not represent the best interests of individuals involved in car accidents. Instead, they work to protect their own interests. They have one goal in a car accident claim: to pay as little as possible.
The at-fault driver’s insurance company may seek to minimize your payout by blaming you for the accident, minimizing your settlement, or persuading you to accept an early lowball settlement before you can fully assess the extent of your injuries.Â
Our award-winning California car accident lawyers at Cutter Law, P.C., have more than 130 years of experience holding insurance companies accountable to pay fair and reasonable compensation. We can protect your claim and ensure you receive the compensation you deserve.
Quicklinks
- Should You Speak With the Other Driver’s Insurance Company After an Accident?
- Why Is the Other Insurance Company Calling?
- Should You Give a Recorded Statement to the Other Driver’s Insurance Company?
- What To Do if the Insurance Company Wants To Talk to You
- Who Are You Legally Required to Cooperate with After a Car Accident?
- How Cutter Law Can Help You Deal with the Other Driver’s Insurance Company
Should You Speak With the Other Driver’s Insurance Company After an Accident?
No, you should not speak to the other driver’s insurance company after an accident. No matter what the representative tells you, you are under no legal obligation to speak with a third-party insurance company following an auto accident.
The representative from the opposing insurance company may seem friendly and empathetic. However, this representative is usually an experienced adjuster whose non-threatening manner is a tactic designed to get you to let your guard down so you will make damaging statements.
The other driver’s insurance company is hoping to catch you off guard while you are still coping with the physical and emotional impacts of the accident and before you have had a chance to speak to an attorney. It will look for ways to use seemingly innocent statements against you.Â
Talking to the other driver’s insurance company puts your claim at risk without benefiting you. It is not in your best interests. For this reason, our attorneys at Cutter Law prefer that you do not speak with them. It may be necessary later to testify at a deposition or trial. However, if and when that happens, we will prepare you ahead of time and be present to protect your interests.
Why Is the Other Insurance Company Calling?
The other insurance company is calling you intending to minimize the amount of compensation it has to pay. It hopes to accomplish this in one of two ways:
- Obtain a recorded statement
- Persuade you to accept a premature settlement offer
The Recorded Statement
The adjuster from the at-fault driver’s insurance company is hoping you will provide a recorded statement. The adjuster may tell you this will help you, but this is how insurance companies gather evidence—not for your benefit, but theirs. They want you to mess up and say the wrong thing.
During a recorded statement, an insurance representative will ask carefully crafted questions designed to trip you up. Their goal is to accomplish at least one of the following:
- Get you to admit to being distracted before the accident.
- Persuade you to apologize or admit fault for the accident.
- Make you second-guess what happened in the accident.
- Provoke you to make statements about your injuries that minimize them.
- Lock you into a version of events that gives them an advantage.
- Extract statements from you that differ from the police report.
The Premature Settlement Offer
Whether or not you agree to provide a recorded statement, the insurance adjuster may make a settlement offer shortly after the accident. If you accept this settlement, you will waive your right to seek compensation later if your losses are higher than you initially believed.
The adjuster may use persuasive language to convince you that you don’t have a strong claim, that the insurance company is making a generous offer, and that you only have a short time to accept it. Due to the financial distress common after a car accident, it may be tempting to accept this offer.
The offer may sound generous, but the insurance company usually hopes you accept it because it is usually far below your case value.Â
When you are severely injured in a car accident, the full extent of your injuries is not always immediately apparent. Your injuries could result in lifelong medical costs and adversely affect your long-term earning capacity. It could take weeks or months to determine your maximum recovery level and how much your injuries will cost you in the long term.
The insurance company knows this and will seek to take advantage. You can count on our seasoned car accident lawyers at Cutter Law to recognize a bad offer and fight for the damages you deserve.
Should You Give a Recorded Statement to the Other Driver's Insurance Company?
You should never give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurance company without first speaking to a trusted car accident lawyer who can your best interests.Â
Giving a recorded statement is doing the insurance company a favor at your own expense. You are essentially gifting the insurance company with hard evidence that it can use against you. The insurance company’s lawyers will listen to the recording and pick apart every word to use it against you in every way possible.Â
They will carefully compare your recorded statement to the police report you likely filed in the accident’s immediate aftermath. Most people cannot tell a story exactly the same way twice, so it is almost a given that they will find inconsistencies. They will use this to attack your credibility. They may even accuse you of lying.
The insurance adjuster may insist that you are legally required to talk to them or provide a recorded statement upon request, but this is not true. California law does not require you to provide a recorded statement or speak with the other driver’s insurance company.
What To Do if the Insurance Company Wants To Talk to You
Avoid providing any information to the other driver’s insurance company without an attorney present. When the insurance company reaches out to you, the following actions will protect your claim:
- Screen your calls. Allow the representative to leave a voicemail rather than answer the phone.
- Direct the representative to contact your attorney. If you do happen to answer the phone, respectfully refuse to answer questions and provide your attorney’s contact information. If you have not yet hired an attorney, ask the representative for their contact information and state that your attorney will be in touch.
- Do not engage in casual conversation with the adjuster. Any conversation with the insurance company could be used against you.
- Do not sign anything from the insurance company. You may receive documents from the other driver’s insurance company in the mail. Never sign anything without your attorney’s approval. Doing so could affect your rights to recover compensation.
- Contact a skilled car accident lawyer at Cutter Law. Contact us as soon as possible after your accident to protect your claim. We will deal with the other driver’s insurance company for you and protect your claim.
Who Are You Legally Required to Cooperate with After a Car Accident?
Although you are not obligated to cooperate with the other driver’s insurance company, you will be required to provide information to the following parties:
- Law enforcement
- The California Department of Motor Vehicles
- Your Own Insurance Company
Law Enforcement
You probably already answered law enforcement’s questions when they responded to the 911 call reporting your accident. If your injuries prevented you from talking to law enforcement at the scene, they will likely contact you when you can speak with them.
The police report will document the information you provide and will be available to the other driver, your insurance company, and the other driver’s insurance company.Â
When answering questions, avoid providing more information than requested. Knowing what transpired immediately before and during an accident can be difficult. It is better to say that you do not know than to guess about the details.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles
California law requires you to report accidents to the DMV within 10 days if anyone was injured or there was property damage of $1,000 or more. The information for this report only includes basic facts, such as the accident’s location and the parties involved.Â
If you cannot file this report, a family member can file it for you. The police will not file this report, and your license can be suspended if you do not file it.
Your Own Insurance Company
Even if you believe the other driver is at fault, you must notify your own insurance company about the accident. It is rare for your insurance company to ask for a recorded statement if the other driver is at fault, but it can happen. It is important to remember that even your own insurance company will work to further their own best interests rather than yours.
No law requires you to provide a recorded statement to your insurance company. However, your policy may require one. Most insurance policies only require cooperation with the investigation without explicitly mentioning a recorded statement.
Our car accident attorneys at Cutter Law can review your insurance contract and determine whether a recorded statement is required. It may be possible to provide a written statement instead of a recorded one, which we could prepare for you. If a recorded statement is required, we will ensure you are well-prepared.
How Cutter Law Can Help You Deal with the Other Driver’s Insurance Company
When you are injured in a car accident, you can count on our caring and dedicated attorneys at Cutter Law to communicate with the other driver’s insurance company on your behalf. You can rest assured that while the insurance company fights for its own best interests, we will fight for yours.Â
While you devote your energy to recovering from your injuries, you can count on us to take care of all of the details of your car accident claim, including the following:
- Calculate your case value
- Demand full compensation from the at-fault driver’s insurance company
- Gather evidence to support your claim
- File a lawsuit before the car accident statute of limitations expires
- Negotiate for the maximum settlement available
- Keep you informed throughout your case
- Advise you about communications or documents from the insurance company
- Prepare you ahead of time for a deposition or trial testimony as needed
- Take your claim to court if necessary
We have won hundreds of millions in compensation for our clients, and we know what to say and what not to say to protect your claim. We charge no upfront fees, and you only pay if we win.Â
Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.
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