The immediate aftermath of a car accident can be a stressful time. You’ll have a variety of tasks you’ll need to perform, among them being to contact your insurance provider and report the accident.
Your insurance provider will assign an adjuster to handle your claim, and your conversations with that adjuster will influence the outcome of your case. As such, here are some tips for how you can approach your first call with your adjuster and set yourself up for success.
- Be pleasant and polite: It’s understandable to get emotional when discussing your accident, but it is important not to take out your feelings on the insurance adjuster. Impoliteness will make it more difficult for you to get a reasonable settlement for your claim. It’s always in your best interest to be pleasant and polite.
- Get the adjuster’s information: Make sure you have the information for the person with whom you are speaking, including the name, address and telephone number of the adjuster, the name of their insurance company and who they are representing.
- Limit your information: You’re only required to provide the insurance adjuster with your name, address and telephone number. If you wish you can tell them about your work. But otherwise, you are not required to provide any information about any other topics, including employment, income, schedule, etc.
- Avoid getting into detail: During your first call you should avoid discussing details or the accident or your injuries. They may try to get you to make a statement about the accident, but you should refuse to discuss anything other than the most basic facts about where and when the accident occurred, the types of vehicles involved, the type of accident and the identities of witnesses. If you need to discuss injuries, just say you are still getting treatment so as not to close the door on that aspect of your case.
- Avoid settling immediately: Don’t just at the first settlement offer you get. Talk it over with your attorney and see if there’s a possibility for you to negotiate a better offer.
For more information about how to set yourself up for success in your first call with your adjuster, contact an experienced auto accident lawyer in Bradenton, FL at Goldman, Babboni, Fernandez & Walsh.