How to Communicate Properly with Insurers After an Accident?

Many of us have been in an accident of any type. In this case, we will likely to get some financial assistance from our insurance company. However, we should make sure that they really can help us to pay bills related to car damages and injuries. It is important for us to gain the highest possible amount after an accident. There are things that we should and shouldn’t do. Although we need to properly communicate with the insurance company, there are actually some things that we can’t say to them. One of the most important rules is to avoid saying anything after the accident occurs.

This may sound like an illogical thing to do, but insurance companies aren’t our friend. They shouldn’t be the first people that we need to contact. Immediately after having a car accident, car owners are often angry, scared and emotionally overwhelmed. These emotions can really influence what we can remember and what we will say. We should go to the nearest hospital if we are injured. Actually, there’s enough time to call our insurance agent, especially after we have read through the contract agreement when we signed it. When we finally talk with the agent, there are things that we need to do.

First of all, we shouldn’t estimate or guess anything. Unless we have been staring intently at the speedometer moments after the accident occurs, we won’t know at what exact speed we were driving. So, don’t guess! Things that we say could be used by the insurance adjusters against us, by implying that we were driving too fast. They will blame us that we don’t have enough time to stop. If the agent wants us to make estimation, we shouldn’t do that and we should only say things that we positively know. Although our parents taught us to apologize often since kids, we shouldn’t do it in this situation.

Even if we are at fault, it is quite likely that other drivers also have an equal blame. In some cases, they are more at fault for the accident. We should also do the same thing with the police officers. What we say may be used against us later. Actually, we have no obligation to make and submit a recorded statement. The insurance company could ask us to create one. There are cases when insurance adjusters take out statement out of context or even distort it. This will make things more difficult for us. We shouldn’t also confirm anything about our physical condition. There are cases when some injuries take more time to manifest.

There could be some hairline bone cracks or internal bleeding that’s not painful for the first few hours after the accident. However, discomfort and bruises could develop later. Often, we will feel some pain on some parts of our body after we are relaxed and the adrenalin level in our system has subsided. In this case, we need to wait for a few days and go to the doctor to check our conditions. Before we speak with the doctor or attorney, we shouldn’t sign or release a medical statement.