After a car accident, the next natural step will be to file an insurance claim. Filing an insurance claim means having to deal with insurance adjusters. While an insurance claim aims to provide you with the financial means to recover after a car accident, that’s not the goal of insurance companies. Insurance companies don’t aim to help you. Their main goal is to resolve your claim as quickly and cheaply as possible—even if it means denying your claim altogether.
Insurance claims are supposed to provide people with financial support to get their lives back together after an accident. However, providing people with financial support means taking money out of their own pockets, and insurance companies are rarely eager to do that. This is why people need strong representation that helps ensure insurance companies don’t take advantage of them. At Knutson + Casey, we are determined to get our clients the fair and maximum compensation they are owed.
Table of Contents
When you file an insurance claim, the claim lands on an insurance adjuster’s desk. Their job is to evaluate your claim and determine how much the insurance company should pay you for the claim (if they determine they should pay you at all). Insurance adjusters often apply less-than-ethical strategies to resolve claims quickly and limit the company’s payout to satisfy the company. Below are three insurance strategies used to limit their payouts and tips on how to avoid falling for them.
Insurance adjusters may ask for an official recorded statement from you describing the accident. However, there’s a reason that the number one advice from attorneys is not to give a recorded statement or speak with an insurance adjuster without an attorney. People are human, and memory is a fickle thing that may be shaped by many internal and external factors. A mistake in a recorded statement to an insurance adjuster can mean the difference between recovering compensation and having your claim denied.
The best thing to do to avoid falling into the trap of inconsistencies in a story is to avoid speaking with the insurance adjuster until you speak to an attorney. An experienced attorney may help you navigate the conversation and ensure you don’t say anything that may be used against you.
While it may seem like a harmless request and even a sensible one considering the circumstances, it’s critical not to give an insurance adjuster access to all of your medical records. Once an adjuster has access to every medical record, they will look through all of it for any evidence that the pain or injury you’re suffering from is linked to a pre-existing condition and not linked to the accident at all.
Avoid having your medical history used against you by waiting until you speak with an attorney to sign anything your insurance company asks you to sign.
Insurance companies know the medical bills can quickly pile up on you, especially if you’re unable to work because of injuries from the accident. The pressure of those bills may lead people to settle for less. Adjusters may delay your claim as much as possible until you’re desperate for anything to help relieve some of the financial burdens.
Avoid this by getting everything you can in writing, including the dates on which an insurance adjuster is meant to get back to you. Another benefit to having an attorney on your side is that they may push the adjuster to address your claim. They may ensure that the adjuster doesn’t leave a claim untouched.
Insurance adjusters will do whatever it takes to limit their payout. They’ll even try to talk you out of obtaining an attorney, saying that it’s unnecessary for your situation. However, when it comes to your recovery and quality of life, it is necessary to have a strong advocate on your side.
At Knutson + Casey, we are more than familiar with the ways that insurance companies try to intimidate people into accepting settlement offers that don’t even begin to cover the true cost of their losses. Our dedicated team of personal injury lawyers are committed to helping our clients stand up to insurance companies and recover the fair compensation they deserve. We have fought for thousands of clients across Southern Minnesota, and we want to fight for you, too. Contact our firm today by completing our contact form or calling (507) 344-8888.