Let me share a typical situation with you.
You were on your way home from work and were broadsided by a car that ran a stop sign and you were shook up, you were bruised, a little blood, but no broken bones. You believe you were blameless for that accident.
You immediately call the police who send a squad car over to take statements. A tow truck took the car away, and it’s now sitting in some shop. You had enough presence of mind to get the names and addresses of the other driver and his passenger, and you’ve written down the contact information of the bystander who saw the accident. You then took out your cell phone and shot some photos. You got home and phoned in the accident to your insurance company and you also made notes about exactly what happened. You’ve done everything exactly right.
The first thing in the morning, your spouse drove you over to the doctor, doctor looked at the bruises you sustained and gave you a prescription for some medicine as your neck was sore. Your car is in the shop. You explained to your boss, and she says take the day off as sick leave. Thus far you’ve done everything absolutely right.
It’s now about noon the day after the accident, and all of a sudden the phone rings “My name is Mary Jones, and I’m an independent adjuster with a general adjustment bureau. I understand you were in a minor accident last night and I am calling to help get your claim paid. How are you this afternoon Mr. Smith?”
It’s the insurance adjuster. Not your insurance adjuster, not your company’s insurance adjuster, the adjuster for the other driver’s insurance company. Remember, this is the day after the accident and you don’t understand the nature and scope of your injuries. You have no idea what you’ll feel like tomorrow much less next week or next month. And you haven’t even given any thought as to whether or not it makes sense to speak to an attorney at this point.
In fact, if you’re like most people, you’d rather not complicate things, you don’t want to make a big deal out of what you think will be, and hopefully is, a minor accident. You’re hoping and expecting everything will be all right and you’ll be back to as good as new in a few days. In fact, you’re probably more concerned about getting your car repaired and renting a loaner until it is.
Some adjusters are nice and friendly. Mrs. Jones may be a wonderful person; you may have seen her singing in local choir. Some adjusters are tough. And sometimes insurance companies bring on multiple adjusters – some nice, some tough – playing sort of a good cop, bad cop routine.
Be aware that when the adjuster is calling you or meeting with you – whether the adjuster is employed by the insurance company or the adjuster is a so-called independent, and works for herself or an adjustment bureau -- she has a job to do.
And the adjuster’s job is to work things out so that the insurance company that hired her will pay you as little as they possibly can get away with, often as fast as they can get away with before there’s a chance that you’ll understand that stiff neck turns out to be disabling whiplash, or the bruise that you suffered leaves a permanent scar – or, you consult an attorney.
The first rule of thumb is to be very careful about anything you say. Even a friendly response: “I’m fine Mrs. Jones, how are you?” may later appear in her report as “Victim says is feeling fine.” And that can damage the settlement value of your claim or your chances to recover in court if it ever comes to that because the insurance company will try to show that you really are fine, and now you must be exaggerating your injuries.
The adjuster may ask to record the conversation, allegedly so she can go over it later in case she missed anything. Generally you should say a polite “no” to that, saying something like: “I’ll be happy to go over anything with you informally, but if you’re going to be recording anything, that sounds sort of formal to me, so maybe I better speak to a lawyer first and ask.”
Once the call is being recorded, the adjuster has an extra incentive to try to get you to say something – which will be captured on tape – and that may be used against you to undermined your potential claim, or show your recollection is faulty, or be construed as misleading, or suggest you are exaggerating. In fact most people significantly minimize their injuries so as to not appear to be a cry baby – men especially learn to appear tough and grin and bear it. And that recording that the adjuster took could be played to the jury if the case ever goes to trial.
What if the adjuster offers to pay to have your car fixed? “Take it to our approved and certified body shop and we’ll do it for you and arrange for a loaner from National until it’s fixed. Sounds reasonable, but before you say yes, check out the reputation of the insurance company’s body shop, ask if the body shop will use original manufacturer parts or after-market parts and decide if it makes a difference to you what is being used. Ask if you can take it to your local body shop, and then decide.
BE VERY CAUTIOUS of one thing: If the adjuster says, “I am going to get the company to pay you $1,000 for the minor injury you suffered, plus fully cover the medical bills you’ve had to date. Is that okay with you? If so, we can wrap up the whole accident and move on and you’ll be $1,000 richer – tax free.”
If that happens to you, just say “no.” It’s okay if they go ahead and fix the car, but if you are asked to sign anything – at the body shop or elsewhere, make sure it does not release any potential claim you may have for personal injury damages.
By all means, get the car fixed, but don’t let the need to get the car fixed affect your judgment about a potential personal injury claim; in the first few days after an accident, you’re in no position to make that decision at that time. You don’t know that nature and scope of the injuries you may have sustained – and they can take weeks or months to develop.