Insurance companies spend millions of dollars each year to put out commercials and other advertisements that portray them as caring and considerate businesses who put your interests first. However, if you have been in accident before, you know that insurance companies only care about one thing—their profit margins. Therefore, it’s crucial that you know these tips to represent your case to an insurance carrier better.
1. Be Prepared by Taking Photos at the Scene
One of the best ways to appropriately deal with a car insurance company is to be prepared. A car insurance company will attempt to pull statements from you about the accident, but instead of declaring your case, you can show them the facts with pictures from the scene of the accident. Nothing can prove that you aren’t liable for the accident better than concrete visual evidence in the form of pictures and videos.
2. Never Talk to the Other Party’s Insurance Company
Regardless of determined fault, you should never talk to the other party’s insurance company. If their company attempts to contact you, always refuse to speak to them. Their job is to make money, and their only goal in contacting you is to discredit your story. The company will undoubtedly attempt to ensnare you with leading questions and baseless accusations, and therefore, you should always deny the conversation.
3. Don’t Be in a Hurry to Settle
When fault is placed on another driver, you should expect their insurance company to attempt to settle the case early in the process (especially if you were injured in the accident.) When insurance companies realize that their beneficiary was the one who caused the accident, they will often attempt to entice the innocent party with a seemingly high, but in actuality low, recovery amount (like $2,000.) While $2,000 may seem like a lot of money, hiring an attorney and seeing a case through to the end can result in much more than that. Therefore, refuse settlement offers to receive higher recovery amounts.
4. Refuse to Give a Recorded Statement
Insurance companies (even your own) will often call and ask you to give a recorded statement of the accident. While providing a statement may not hurt your case, it will almost never help your case. During these recordings, the company is looking for information that can be used against you. Therefore, it is better to refrain from giving a recorded statement and to rely on the facts to prove your lack of negligence.
5. If You Are Unsure About What to Do: Stop and Hire a Lawyer
This is the best advice there is when it comes to dealing with insurance companies. Choosing to do something when you aren’t entirely sure of what you should do can lead to less than ideal outcomes. Therefore, if you are asked to do anything that has unclear implications, you should look into hiring a personal injury attorney.
