Filing an immediate claim with the insurance company is important, but contacting an attorney is even more important.

This is an area of car accidents that drivers often find themselves making decisions which turn out having a negative impact on their claims. These are some facts and rights that you have pertaining to you after you have been through a car accident.

Regardless of the outcome from an accident you were in, one topic that often surfaces is whether to provide a statement to your insurance company or to the insurance company of the other party and is it is mandated by law to do so?

Remember that if you have been involved in an accident, you are excited, you are nervous, you are stressed. The insurance companies use those times and those opportunities to their advantage and they try to get you to say or do things that may jeopardize your case.

Is It Mandated by Law to Provide a Statement?

The simplest answer to this question is no. There is no law that mandates that you provide a statement to anyone after undergoing a collision, whether it is recorded or not recorded.

You have rights to not provide any information, especially not to an insurance company. Remember, one fact about an insurance company is that they will use everything you say to their advantage, particularly the opposing party’s insurance provider. If you say one sentence out-of-context or an incorrect word, that can be used against your accident case.

You will not be penalized for not providing a statement unless your insurance company has a requirement within your policy that requires you to do so, but your insurance company will most likely want to gain knowledge as to what happened and use that information to benefit your claim because they are on your side. They will ask you what you remember about the accident and certain details to assist them in determining the aid they need to provide your claim with.

Are There Any Benefits in Giving the Insurance Companies a Statement?

Although it is very rare that your own insurance company will ask you to provide a statement, sometimes they might ask you to because it may be listed in your policy.

In the event that they do ask you to do so, you have a right to ask them who this information will be shared with and what do they plan on doing with your statement.

With the vast majority of car accident cases, it is typically the other party’s insurance company that will ask you to provide a statement because they are trying to avoid paying you completely or trying to minimize the amount of repayment. In other words, there is no benefit in providing a statement to an insurance company, when asked to provide one – simply say no. The best option is to call an attorney and get real-world advice on your accident case.

What Can Go Wrong If I Do Provide a Statement?

If you do provide a statement to the other driver’s insurance company, you just placed yourself in a no-win situation. Just like your insurance company is trying to gather evidence to use against the other driver, the other driver’s insurance company is trying to acquire information to use against you. Offering them a statement is like winning the lottery for an insurance company.

The opposing party wants to find fault in the accident or reduce the amount of compensation they owe you. Those are two situations that you do not want to find yourself in. You need to be compensated for all the damages that you sustained during the accident, especially if the fault was that of the other driver.

Your claim will most likely be weakened by providing a statement. Insurance companies are trained to twist your words and use the evidence to their advantage.

Even if you believe and know that the other driver is clearly responsible for the accident, never assume so because the insurance adjusters know exactly which questions to ask and how to make you say things to make it seem like you also played a role in causing the accident.

Another downfall with providing a recorded statement is that the other party’s lawyer could use that statement against you if you end up having to go to court. With them being able to use words you provided against you, it will make you seem untrustworthy to the court, further hindering your chances of winning your claim.

Follow These Simple Tips

1. Postpone speaking to anyone until you have legal representation, an accident, and injury attorney
2. Gather information of the other party
3. Limit the information you give, if you must
4. Stick to “When, where, what and who”
5. State that you do not know the extent of your injuries yet (Some injuries may take hours and even days for them to surface after an accident has taken place)
6. Simply say “I do not know” if you fail to remember a certain aspect of the accident. Do not lie or assume
7. Write down everything that was spoken of (Keep notes)

Last Resort is to Turn to Your Own Insurance Company

You have an insurance company for a reason. You pay for a monthly service to be there by your side when the day comes that you, unfortunately, fall into a car accident.

There is not one benefit for you to offer the other driver’s insurance company information or evidence of the vehicle collision. On the contrary, you will be limiting the possibility of you winning your claim with the indicated amount of compensation that you should be receiving.

You should make all your communications through your own insurance company and offer them the information that they need in order to help you out with your claim.

Best way to prevent yourself from weakening your insurance claim is by car accident lawyer.

Call (844) 513-7253 today to schedule your free consultation to get answers to all of your questions so you can make an informed decision on how to proceed with your claim.

‍