Quick Preview – DEALING WITH THE
INSURANCE COMPANY
• Prepare for frustration.
• Opening an insurance claim.
• The art of recorded statements.
• Get ready for a lot of phone tag.
• Understanding settlement talks.
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CHAPTER 4.
Crucial Question #2:
How Do You Deal with the
Insurance Company?
The Fun Starts Now – Not Really
As a personal injury attorney I have the privilege of dealing with insurance adjusters every single day. If you didn’t sense
sarcasm in the word privilege in the previous sentence, then let
me use a few different words to describe what it is really like –
frustrating, irritating, lonely (because 90% of the time I am talking to answering machines) and exhausting.
You do not have to have an attorney when dealing with
the insurance companies, but just know that the insurance companies have their own attorneys. There are multiple occasions
that you may have to talk to the insurance companies during the
recovery. I will try to outline the most common times dealing
with insurance companies.
Opening a Claim
The initial step in getting the insurance companies to take
action is to open a claim with them. This can be as simple as calling them and letting them know what happened, but often times
requires a lot more information including many of the correspondences below. It is likely that you will have to open a claim with
both your insurance company as well as with the other insurance
companies involved.
Recorded Statements
Initially both insurance companies have the right to ask
you questions about the accident in order to open the claim and
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figure out liability. During these initial conversations the insurance companies will ask you many questions both about the car
accident and about your injuries.
In fact, one of the tactics used is asking the same question multiple different ways in order to try to get you contradict
yourself and downplay your injuries, which is later use during
negotiations to minimize the value of your claim. Often times it is
very beneficial to do these recorded statements in the presence of
your attorney.
Written Correspondence
One of the most vital things insurance companies
request in these written correspondences are your
permission to request your medical records.
Insurance companies also correspond via letters and
sometimes emails. One of the most vital things insurance companies request in these written correspondences are your permission to request your medical records. The insurance companies
do need to see your medical records in order to value your claim;
however, the problem most people make is they give permission
to the insurance company to get whatever they want for as long as
they want.
This often gives them ammunition to find prior injuries
that have very little to do with the car accident and use that to
minimize your settlement. This is one more reason why it may
not be a bad idea to either have an attorney request and deliver
the medical record or at minimum restrict how much authority
you give to insurance companies in getting your medical records.
Correspondence
One of the most frustrating tasks of dealing with insurance companies is simply trying to get hold of them. Often times
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they are on different time zones and or have so many claims that
it take three to seven messages before getting a return call. This
is not always the case, but occurs more often than any person deserves. Additionally, if you are trying to get hold of the insurance
company it is likely because you need them to do something like
fix your car or get a rental. If you do not know your way around
the internal communications of these large corporations, this can
cause huge headaches and frustrations.
Settlement Offers
I strongly advise you not accept any offers until you
know for a certainty that the offer is fair.
Another very important reason the insurance company
may be trying to communicate with you is to try to get you to
settle your claim. Often times this occurs very early in the claim
and well before you may know the extent of your injuries. I
strongly advise you not accept any offers until you know for a
certainty that the offer is fair. This goes for both property damage
as well as settlement offers for you injury claims. An experienced
car accident attorney deals with settlements on a daily basis and
is likely your best source in figuring out if the settlement is fair or
not. Most attorneys offer a free consultation as well.
IME (Independent Medical Evaluations)
Insurance companies often ask if you will be willing to see
and IME doctor. The “independent” doctor’s job is to take a look
at your injuries and determine if you need more treatment or if
in their opinion, you should be healed by now. They are paid by
the insurance company therefore they are almost always unfavorable to you. The IME process more often than not occurs at the
request of the 1st party insurance (your own insurance company)
and usually is requested to determine if your insurance company
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feels they should continue to pay your PIP benefits.
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Checklist:
DEALING WITH INSURANCE
 Prepare yourself for frustration.
 Open an insurance claim.
 Conduct your recorded
statements.

Call multiple times until you
get ahold of someone.
 Do NOT accept the first
settlement offer extended.
 Speak with an experienced
auto accident attorney.
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