When you get in a car accident, dealing with car insurance adjusters can be a major headache. Because these people can be instrumental in getting your car repaired and helping you get compensation for injuries you may have sustained, you want to avoid fumbling through those phone calls that, frankly, most of us make pretty common mistakes on.
Article Summary
- Top 10 Mistakes To Avoid When Dealing with Car Insurance
- Failing To Understand The Adjuster’s Role
- Providing too much information
- Admitting fault
- Not consulting a car accident lawyer
- Accepting the first settlement offer
- Signing documents without understanding them
- Underestimating the value of your claim
- Ignoring medical treatment
- Posting on social media
- Delaying the claim process
- Wrapping Up
Top 10 Mistakes To Avoid When Dealing with Car Insurance
To save you some aggravation, and to ensure that everything goes as smoothly as possible so that you get all the money you’re owed, we have highlighted some of the most common errors for you to avoid below.
Failing To Understand The Adjuster’s Role
You’d be surprised at how many people commit this simple error: they don’t understand what an insurance adjuster’s job does. Adjusters work for the insurance company, and their job is to determine the scope of your claim and how much money you should receive.
Their actual job is to reduce what the company pays out. This is not as obvious as you might imagine. Knowing this can really help you go into the conversation with the right attitude.
Providing too much information
In any circumstances, many people’s fault is giving too much away. An honest person is not always the best communicator. Too much honesty can actually cause more problems, especially with a situation involving a car wreck.
When talking about the car crash you should limit the details as much as possible. You shouldn’t detail more than what happened, place of the crash, time the car accident happened, the vehicles involved, and anything on the side of the roads that could possibly show up in an accident investigation.
As stated before, it is a good idea to talk to a car wreck attorney first because you don’t want to accidentally sabotage your case by saying too much.
Admitting fault
Even if you somehow feel partially responsible for the accident, you shouldn’t confess to having been at fault! In fact, establishing responsibility is complicated and there may even be multiple factors to consider.
Best to leave that to the lawyers and the insurers to sort out: it will now ruin your claim for compensation, or even preclude you from making one at all, if you say you’re sorry.
Not consulting a car accident lawyer
Actually, actually the big mistake that most people make after a car accident are not call a car accident attorney. The car accident lawyer deal with the insurance company, they deal with the paper work.
You know what, they don’t want to give you this money. You know what, it’s gonna make your life a whole lot easier if you get someone who is going to fight for you and handle so the insurance company won’t mess your life up.
A good lawyer will manage the whole process for you, fight with the insurance companies on your behalf and protect your rights, so you don’t get short-changed.
You will either get the fair deal you deserve (or better) as your attorney will know the real value of your claim and will know how to evaluate medical expenses, loss wages, pain and suffering and other damages.
Accepting the first settlement offer
Many insurance companies start out with a pretty low settlement offer if you deal with them directly when you make a claim. They’re betting that you aren’t going to give it much thought and will accept it.
However, many don’t realise they could have done better than the first offer. So, it pays to decide not to forego looking at it closely. Don’t make a decision right away.
Signing documents without understanding them
Never sign a check from the insurance people without reading their papers through with a fine-tooth comb. Those bastards have usually hidden one or another sneaky clause that would bar you from receiving additional compensation at some future date.
Have your lawyer who specialises in auto accidents peek at all their forms before you sign. That way you can ensure your rights aren’t surrendered by mistake.
Underestimating the value of your claim
I routinely see claimants who shortchange their claim because they can’t think beyong the 20-minute period between the scene and when they have to write a cheque totaled out of the compensation should be a lot more than just paying your medical bills and getting your car fixed.
It should also be a reflection of your costs if you need to go back to the doctor and make further trips to the hospital (future costs), the income you are no longer making while you’re out of work, and then the pain you’re in and the horror of the whole experience (subjective issues). Oh, but keep in mind that you are probably going to have permanent damage as a result of the accident too.
Ignoring medical treatment
And just to tell you the truth, a lot of people screw up because maybe they don’t go right away to the doctor after they’re hurt, or maybe they don’t continue their treatment. The insurance companies might use that break in treatment to tell you you’re okay, that you’re not as hurt as you say.
Thus, you have to listen to the doctor and record your doctor’s visits and treatments on paper. Having your evidence documented will help your case, and show that you were indeed injured.
In the days and weeks following an accident or injury, perhaps the most salient piece of advice is not to splatter every detail across social media outlets. For some reason, however, this is what so many people feel compelled to do.
That would probably be the most obvious thing to warn anyone against but, then again, the insurance companies are pretty clever. They have adjusters who might look for anything on social media that doesn’t entirely correlate with what you’re telling them in the claim.
If they see you out playing sports or at a party while you’re supposed to be in bed nursing a broken arm or something, they can say: ‘Oh, Mrs So-and-so doesn’t look hurt at all!’ So, you just keep your mouth shut about the whole accident thing, and you keep your mouth shut about your health until everything is settled with the insurance.
Delaying the claim process
Waiting to tell the insurance company about your motorbike accident, or to fill in the claim form, might get you into trouble. You mean one of your policies might say something about telling them about your accident as soon as it happens?
If you leave it too long, they will not believe your claim (or even worse, they might refuse it). Also, as time passes, evidence from the accident can be lost and you might even lose the sharpness of your memory. Where should you first turn? Speak to your insurer and kick-start the claims process as soon as possible after the event.
Wrapping Up
If you have been in an accident and dealing with a car insurance adjuster, you have got to be smart and strategic. Do not allow yourself to make the same mistakes that other people make. Getting a good car-accident attorney is your best course of action. You must stand up for yourself throughout the process. This way, you will likely do a better job of handling the aftermath of an accident and maximise the compensation you are entitled to.
