It doesn’t take long for a car accident to occur. One minute you’re heading to work or buying groceries for the week, and the next, you may end up in a car accident due to another’s negligence. When an accident happens, the most important thing to do is to receive medical attention immediately.
Pursuing a personal injury claim is equally important to receive compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, and property damage and move on with your life. However, recovering compensation can be challenging, and dealing with the insurance company and its tactics can be tiring. If you’re unsure how to handle the insurer and their strategies, you may jeopardize your personal injury claim with very little or no compensation to take home.
Ehline Law and our personal injury attorneys have successfully handled more than 3,000 personal injury cases. We deal with insurance companies and their adjusters daily and know every trick in the book they use to reduce or deny payouts.
Here, we’ve put together a guide of the top 10 tricks car insurance adjusters use to mislead people to educate and inform you before you contact the insurance company.
Top 10 Tricks Car Insurance Adjusters Use to Mislead People
Although many people believe that filing a personal injury claim against the negligent party’s insurance company is the biggest challenge to tackle after an accident, handling the insurance company and their claims adjusters can be equally tiring, stressful, and hectic, if not more.
Suppose you’re involved in a car accident and are planning to file a personal injury claim against the other party’s insurance company. In that case, you must read the following top 10 tricks insurance companies use to help you handle their strategies better.
They Will Tell You That the Insurance Policy Does Not Cover the Accident
When you experience a car accident and talk to your insurance company about it, they’ll immediately blame the third party or even try to pin it on you.
In some cases, they’ll tell car accident victims that their insurance policy does not cover the incident because they know that the car accident victims will not go over the fine print mentioned in their policy.
Reputable personal injury attorneys can help car accident victims understand their rights and evaluate whether they have personal injury claims they can pursue.
They Have Investigators to Spy on Claimants
One of the most important pieces of advice when dealing with the insurance company is to be upfront and honest about the accident or your injuries.
Most accident victims fail to realize that insurance companies hire private investigators to stalk individuals who file a claim against them. The investigator’s job is to find dirt on the claimant or record them doing an activity that would violate the insurance company’s terms and conditions.
Suppose you’re not honest with the insurance company and get caught doing an activity that violates their terms and conditions. In that case, they can immediately deny your claims without reaching out to you for an explanation or further details.
It’s best to stay low in your daily life and reduce your social media presence until your claim gets resolved.
They’ll Try to Underrate Your Injuries
The most important thing to remember is that the insurance company is not a medical provider, and they do not have qualified, reputable medical doctors to advise you on your injuries.
If an insurance company is underrating your injuries and brushing them off as minor bruises, don’t listen to them. All they’re doing is reducing your claim while risking your health.
You should only refer to a qualified medical doctor and follow their advice and the medical treatment plan they curate for you. Listening to your insurance company and their medical advice can set you back financially and affect your health in the long run.
They Use Delaying Tactics
When you file a claim with the insurance company, they will assign an insurance adjuster to your case, who will “work” with you in negotiating a fair settlement.
Well, that’s what they want you to know, but in reality, the only job of the insurance adjuster is to minimize payouts, and they’ll use every trick in the book, including delaying tactics.
After filing a claim with the insurer, you may want an update on the process and call them. In most cases, they’ll tell you that your insurance adjuster is not in today and arrange for them to contact you as soon as possible. That’ll never happen.
Sometimes, they’ll tell you that your paperwork is in the process but won’t give you a specific timeframe.
The insurance adjusters are looking to buy time so that the statute of limitations pertaining to your accident case expires. That way, they don’t have to face a lawsuit in court.
They’ll Ask You to Provide All Your Medical Records
When an insurance company receives a claim, the insurance adjuster will immediately sympathize with you and trick you into believing they’re on your side. They’re cozying up to you to get you to spill some beans or provide them with certain documentation that they can use against you. In many cases, those documents include your medical records and history.
An insurance adjuster will use your medical records to pluck out information that they can use against you. They’ll try to connect your past medical history with your current injuries and blame your injury on previous medical problems.
Claimants should never release medical records to insurance adjusters without discussing them with experienced personal injury attorneys.
They’ll Low Ball a Settlement Offer and Force You into Signing a Release
When accident victims suffer injuries, that is when their medical debt starts to accumulate. The more severe their injuries, the more medical bills they rack up, and as medical and other out-of-pocket expenses start to pile, the pressure to accept any offer the insurance company throws at them is high.
Insurance companies are well aware of this and will try to wait it out before offering them a lowball settlement check, telling the victims that it is the best they can do. When accident victims hear this, they start worrying about the medical debt they have to pay and immediately accept the lower settlement offer.
It is important for injured victims to consult with experienced personal injury lawyers before accepting any offer. Remember, once you agree to take the settlement, the insurance company will ask you to sign a release that protects them from future lawsuits in case you feel later that the money is not enough to cover your bills.
They’ll Force You into Admitting Fault
Admitting fault is the worst thing you can do that can jeopardize your personal injury claim. Even if you’re at fault for an accident, you shouldn’t talk about the incident, admit fault, or even go into too much detail, as you may end up saying something that adversely affects your personal injury claim.
In states with comparative negligence rule, such as California, partial fault can reduce the compensation awarded. Many insurance companies in these states will try to find anything that would help them increase your degree of fault and reduce their payouts.
They’ll Act Friendly
When accident victims speak to insurance companies, these insurers will act friendly and polite, but in reality, it is their job to take as much money as they can from you and reduce payouts. They have targets to meet, and if they don’t meet them at the end of the day, they risk losing their job.
Don’t fall for their sweet talk or their polite attitude toward you. Insurance adjusters work in the best interests of the insurance companies and not the claimants or their policyholders. Sometimes, they might even lose their job if they sympathize with the claimant and offer them all the damages they ask for.
They’ll Have You Give a Recorded Statement
When accident victims suffer injuries in an accident and file personal injury claims against the negligent party’s insurance companies, the insurance adjusters will ask them to provide details about the accident or give a recorded statement.
In many cases, insurance adjusters will tell victims they have the legal obligation to tell them their version of the story. That is not true, and accident victims do not have any legal duty to provide their side of the story.
Discussing the facts of the incident can get you in trouble, as an insurance adjuster can use your recorded statement against you. You must tell them you need to speak to a personal injury attorney before you can disclose anything about the incident.
An experienced personal injury lawyer can guide you on what to say and what not to say and even be there when you give your side of the story to the insurance company.
They’ll Lie to You
After going through the top 9 tricks of the insurance company, you would’ve realized that the insurance company will always lie to you, no matter what. They’ll tell the accident victim that they don’t need an attorney, and it’s just a matter of days before they receive any settlement. Again, that’s a lie!
Accident victims must immediately consult with experienced personal injury attorneys about their insurance claims following their car accidents.
When the insurance adjuster refuses to settle, the attorney can threaten them with legal action in court.
Speak to an Experienced Personal Injury Attorney After Your Accident
If you’re an accident victim, it is crucial to understand that the insurance company is not on your side. Even if you’re aware of their tricks, you may face challenges that may be difficult to overcome, such as avoidance tactics.
Having an experienced accident lawyer on your side means that the insurance company and its claims adjusters are more likely to sit at the negotiating table and resolve the claim.
Ehline Law and our personal injury attorneys have recovered more than $150 million in settlements and successful verdicts for our injured clients. We have a stellar nationwide reputation and are a leading premier personal injury law firm in California and Texas.
When our award-winning attorneys take on a case, insurance companies know we’re coming for them and every cent they owe our client, which is why they’re more likely to offer a fair settlement and expedite the claims process.
Schedule a Free Consultation with Ehline Law
If you’ve suffered injuries in a car accident due to another’s negligence or recklessness, contact us at (833) LETS-SUE for a free consultation, as you may be able to seek compensation.
