Why You Should Never Give the Insurance Company a Recorded Statement

Have you been in an automobile accident that was caused by another person’s negligence? Be aware that an adjuster from the at-fault driver’s insurance company may call and ask you to provide a recorded statement. When you get this call from a friendly, pleasant-sounding insurance adjustor, you may be tempted to comply with this request. Know this: while the adjuster’s tone may put you at ease, that phone call could be the set-up for an expensive trap.

Think about the insurance adjuster’s job. This is a person who works for an insurance company, which is a for-profit business interested in protecting the bottom line. It is in an insurance company’s best interest to reduce and deny insurance claims, and one extremely effective way to do this is to obtain recorded statements from injured parties.

These recordings are made to trap someone into saying something the company can use to reduce or deny the claim. The adjuster may be looking for inconsistency in your story. On the other hand, sometimes adjusters use tricky or misleading questions to get you to say what they want to hear. They have a wide range of tricks up their sleeves, all designed to keep you from getting your rightful compensation.

Knowing this, you should talk to a personal injury attorney before complying with the insurance company’s request for a recorded statement. In fact, you should not give an oral statement at all without first speaking to your attorney. The insurance adjuster is a professional, trained in taking statements. He or she has probably taken hundreds if not thousands of these kinds of recorded statements, and the goal is always the same. Adjusters want to find a way to use your words against you, whether in a deposition, negotiations, or a trial.

When you don’t know the intricacies of personal injury law, you won’t be experienced in avoiding pitfalls while talking to the insurance adjuster. Because you don’t want to walk into a carefully disguised trap, it’s essential to speak to an attorney before you speak to anyone else. An experienced attorney will be able to give you advice that will help you maximize your compensation and get the money you deserve.

Since 1990, the Law Firm of Kevin Paul Childers has been committed to providing the legal guidance you need. We pay close attention to each case, giving one-on-one treatment to each of our clients because every case is unique. Our lawyers are among the best in Virginia, and we’ll put our more than 100 years of collective experience to work for you. We work hard to achieve the best possible results for every client we represent, so contact us for a free case analysis or call (703) 636-2182 today.