There are 4 DEADLY SINS you can make when dealing with an insurance adjustor after your Deer Park car wreck. Avoid them, and you will avoid being victimized a second time for the same wreck.
1. Giving a Recorded Statement to the Insurance Adjustor
Giving a recorded statement to the insurance adjustor of the at-fault driver can be a real case killer. In fact, you shouldn’t even speak with the insurance adjustor at all. The insurance adjustor is not on your side, no matter what they tell you or how nice they seem. The insurance company adjustor will ask you questions in such a way that the full and true facts will not be recorded and never see the light of day.
BEFORE speaking to an insurance adjustor, speak to an attorney. You are under no obligation to hire him, but you will get some tips on how to deal with the adjustor and what information they are actually entitled to.
2. Signing the Insurance Company’s Forms
The insurance adjustor will say you MUST sign a few forms for her to evaluate your claim. Just like with the recorded statement, you are under no legal obligation to sign any of the forms. You must control how the information is given to the adjustor; otherwise, they will use your signed authorizations to dig up totally private and completely irrelevant information. This irrelevant information will then be used to muddy the waters at best and at worst outright deny your claim.
3. Not Seeking IMMEDIATE Heakthcare and then Ignoring the Doctor’s Advice
There is no better defense from an insurance adjustor than the delay, delay, delay argument. It goes like this: “You waited ___ days to seek medical attention and then delayed another ___ days or weeks before you followed your doctor’s advice. You must not be hurt so we are not considering your injury claim.”
If you are really hurt, you should go to the emergency room immediately or a doctor to assess your injuries. If you did not go to the emergency room immediately after the accident then get to a doctor as soon as possible. Any passage of time between the accident and medical treatment will be labeled a delay by the insurance company. You will then be accused of essentially engaging in fraud by not seeking healthcare until days after the accident. Although in some accidents it is reasonable to give the body a few days to heal itself, the insurance company will use this against you.
4. Not Being Totally Accurate With Your Board Certified Attorney
In today’s high tech society, we all have more to juggle than ever before. It is extremely difficult to remember what you had for lunch yesterday, much less the details of the car wreck you had 5 years ago or the back injury you had in your 20’s. Despite that, you absolutely MUST be as totally accurate as absolutely possible with the Board Certified Attorney working on your case. As the Plaintiff, you need to lay out all the facts and history of everything that could remotely be related to your case. This is because everything is potentially fair game and even things that are not fair game the insurance company will try to find and use against you. Your Board Certified Attorney cannot defend against this unless he knows about it. This is a prime example of the saying, “the best defense is the best offense.” This means you must tell your attorney EVERYTHING from the outset and let him decide what information is relevant and what isn’t.
Call us today at 877.307.9500 to discuss your case. Tony Denena or Chad Points are both Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. We are available to answer all of your questions. After we have answered all of your questions, you are under no obligation to hire us and the consultation is FREE.