Because most outings in your car are safe and stress-free, it can be easy to forget how common car accidents are. It’s an unfortunate fact that people in our community are involved in car crashes every day, and some suffer serious injuries. If you are involved in a collision caused by someone else, you may be entitled to monetary compensation. However, insurance companies frequently fight against injury claims to try to reduce the amounts they might be forced to pay. Understanding the games car insurance companies play with collision victims should help you watch out for common tactics and grasp the stakes involved.
Games Car Insurance Companies Play with the Victims of Collisions
It’s important to recognize that insurance companies are in the business of making profits. They are not concerned about your wellbeing or how you might recover from your injuries. To maximize your potential damages and avoid making mistakes that could harm your claim, we encourage you to watch out for the games car insurance companies play with victims . . .
Sending Adjusters Who Act Like They Care
Many insurance adjusters appear compassionate and act as if they care about your injuries. However, you must remember that they are employed by the insurance company. This means that the adjuster’s loyalty lies with his or her employer rather than you. An adjuster’s job is to try to reduce the amounts that their companies might be forced to pay on accident claims. Be careful when you are contacted by the at-fault driver’s insurance company. Never agree to talk about your injuries or what happened without talking to a personal injury lawyer.
Requests for Recorded Interviews
A common tactic that insurance companies use in injury claims is to ask the victims to give recorded statements. The company might tell you it needs the information to process your claim and may even act as if you are required to give a statement. However, you do not have a legal obligation to talk to the at-fault driver’s insurance company. You should politely refuse to give a statement and simply tell the company that you want to talk to a personal injury lawyer before providing any statement about the collision. Insurance companies are skilled at asking leading questions to try to trap accident victims into saying things that they do not mean. They then use those statements against the victims in their injury claims. Your attorney can handle all of the communication with the insurance company to help you to avoid making mistakes.
Requests for Medical Authorizations
A related tactic used by insurance companies is to ask accident victims to sign medical authorizations to allow the company to access their medical records. The company might tell you that it needs this information to verify the extent and severity of your injuries. However, if you give this type of authorization to the insurance company, it will instead dig through your entire medical history to try to find a different incident on which it can blame your injuries. Do not sign a medical authorization sent to you by the at-fault party’s insurance company.
Fast Settlement Offers
One of the games car insurance companies play with accident victims is to send early settlement packages to try to resolve their claims quickly. However, these settlement offers are often far too low to pay for all of the losses the victim has suffered. If you agree to accept a quick settlement offer, you will be barred from trying to seek additional money later to pay for your losses. Never sign an early settlement offer without having an experienced personal injury lawyer review it.
Protect Your Rights
Insurance companies often engage in many different strategies to try to reduce the amount they have to pay collision victims or to avoid paying claims altogether. Working with an experienced personal injury attorney at Musgrave Law Group can help you avoid making mistakes when insurance companies try to engage in these and other tactics. Contact us today to request a free consultation by calling 417-322-2222 or sending us a message online.