After being injured in a car accident, you’re bound to come face-to-face with your own insurance company as well as the insurance company that covered the other driver involved in the wreck. Representatives from these companies may seem friendly enough, which can lull you into a false sense of security as you discuss your accident and your claim. However, you need to be extraordinarily careful as you interact with these companies. After all, they may not have your best interests at heart.
Why you should be cautious when dealing with an insurance company
As you work through the claims process and consider pursuing a personal injury lawsuit, you need to take several things into account, especially when it comes to interacting with an insurance company. Here are some issues that you should keep at the forefront:
- Insurance companies are profit-motivated: At the end of the day, insurance companies are in the business of making money. They want to collect as much in premium payments as they can while avoiding paying out claims if at all possible. Therefore, they’re going to look for any justification to deny your claim or to pay you less than you’re owed. Keep that in mind while you’re negotiating with an insurance company.
- Your words will be used against you: You need to be careful with what you say to an insurance company. Even if an adjuster seems friendly and helpful, they have a job to do, and that job is to protect the interests of the insurance company. Therefore, these individuals might ask you questions that are targeted at you making an admission that can be used against you. Your words can also be taken out of context and twisted. Therefore, you’ll want to make sure that you’re clear in what you say and that you clarify anything that you think may give a false impression.
- Insurance companies are in their element when facing litigation: It’s likely that this is your first foray into the legal arena. For insurance companies, though, facing the threat of litigation is just another day at the office. This means that attorneys for the insurance companies might take advantage of your nervousness and inexperience, pressuring you to accept a settlement that isn’t in your best interests. They might give the impression that you won’t be able to recover more or that they’re not authorized to offer what you’re asking for, but you need to keep pushing rather than taking their word for it.
- Insurance companies know how to dig for fault: Keep in mind that your personal injury recovery can be reduced if you’re found to be partially to blame for the wreck. So, the insurance company is going to fully assess the case to determine if they can argue that you’re at fault for the accident. And the insurance company probably isn’t going to share with you all of the information that it has at its disposal, especially if it’s favorable to your position. This is just another reason why you shouldn’t trust an insurance company.
Don’t be taken advantage of by an aggressive insurance company
Insurance companies push for the outcomes that they want. You need to be prepared to pushback equally aggressively. That means that you’re going to have to know the law and how to exploit it to your advantage throughout the entire claim process. If that sounds daunting, or if you simply want to maximize your chances of successfully navigating your lawsuit, then now may be the best time for you to reach out to an attorney of your choosing to discuss the matter further.
