Should You Talk to The Other Insurance Company After A Car Accident?

You might be wondering what you should do after a car accident, regardless if you were at fault or not. Being in an accident can be a scary situation and you may find yourself wondering what steps to take in order to get the best outcome.

Besides getting all the necessary contact info and information about the car accident, you might inquire about how to go about dealing with the other driver’s car insurance company or if you should even reach out. At One Law Group, we’re here to give you answers that can benefit you – even if you’re never in a car accident!

Don’t Reach Out

The short answer to wondering if you should talk to the other driver’s insurance company is simply no. You don’t want to talk with anyone other than the police and your own insurance company. Experts actually recommend that you never speak to the other driver’s insurance company since your own insurance will do all of the contacting.

All you need to do is call your insurance provider right after the accident to report what happened and give them all the facts and necessary information. So, you are under absolutely no obligation to reach out and talk to the other person’s insurance company.

Dealing with the Other Driver’s Insurance Company

Again, the best way to deal with the other driver’s insurance provider is to let your insurance company deal with them. If you want the best results, you might want to consult with a car accident lawyer and let them take the reins. This way, you’ll be able to have a great chance of getting the largest amount for the damages to your vehicle and get compensated for any medical bills or time lost at work.

The other driver’s insurance provider does not have your best interest in mind and a car accident lawyer can ensure you don’t miss out on what you deserve.

The Other Driver’s Insurance Provider Isn’t Looking Out for You

All insurance providers have financial interests in mind, including yours. But the difference is, you’re paying them for their policies, so they’ll back you in the case of an auto accident. This means that the insurance company will deny the maximum number of car accident claims and will always try to negotiate the lowest possible settlement on other car accident claims.

So, to decrease the number of claims they have to pay out, the insurance providers often deny many claims made. Since you don’t have the insight knowledge that insurance adjusters have, you’re at a disadvantage here.

However, you can have someone on your side – your car accident and injury attorney. They also have knowledge about insurance claims and providers and will help you get more money than what’s offered. You’ll be able to rest assured that you’ll be able to fix your car and pay off any medical bills instead of worrying about what to do when the adjuster denies your claim.

Reasons Not to Talk to the Other Driver’s Insurance Company

Talking to other insurance providers is a risky move. When doing so, you risk sabotaging your own case. The insurance provider will then use what you told them against you later in the future of your claim – even though the car accident wasn’t your fault. Insurance adjusters are tricky and are well trained to use whatever you tell them against you for their own benefit.

Legally, you don’t have to talk to the other insurance company at all. However, the other insurance company can still try to contact you. You might be fooled into saying something you shouldn’t have said in the beginning. If you do get a call from the other driver’s insurance provider, it’s best if you don’t take the call and contact an accident attorney instead. However, if you do happen to talk to someone about the car accident, you’ll want to record any details of the conversation in a post-accident journal that you could then hand over to your lawyer and own insurance company.

If you do happen to talk to the other driver’s insurance provider, be aware that they might ask you for a recorded statement. The adjuster might be chatty and ask you in a friendly way, mentioning that this will speed up the process.

Believing everything they say, you might think this will help you get a settlement faster, but it won’t. Don’t fall for their trap! Having a statement recorded can be very damaging and show that you don’t have a valid claim, which means all the property damage and medical bills are now your responsibility.

Adjusters will ask you questions that will cause you to answer in such a way that it hurts your claim. An aggressive adjuster might push you to agree to certain facts that you might not know are accurate.

You could accidentally mention the word “yes” and now they’ll have that against you and your claim. They’ll review your statement that they recorded and the statement you gave to the police to find any inconsistencies between the too.

Then if the car accident claim does go to trial, that recorded statement will be used against you and you’ll most likely lose the case. But a good defense lawyer can help you with this problem, highlighting any discrepancy and turning it against what the adjuster said.

This is obviously a worst-case scenario and not every insurance provider will play games like this. But some will and it’s important that you don’t do anything wrong that could undermine your car accident claim. That’s why it’s recommended you never talk to the other insurance company after you get into a car accident!