If you have been involved in an accident, then you should expect to hear from the insurance company. When answering that call, be polite, but limit the amount of information that you share with any caller from that same insurance company.
Actions to take, when accepting that initial call
Get the name of the person at the other end of the line
Get the address of the office for the person at the other end of the line
Get the phone number for the person that has called you
Get the name of the insurance company that has employed the caller
Write down all of the above information and save it
Actions to avoid, when dealing, on phone, with someone from the defendant’s insurance company
• Do not use abusive language
• Do not share too much information; still, it is ok to promise that there will be more facts shared in a demand letter.
• Do not agree to give a statement
• Do not commit yourself to providing the names of any witnesses, or to providing the adjuster with any statements from witnesses.
• Do not give any detailed descriptions of your injury
• Do not give out the names of your medical providers
Actions to avoid when dealing with someone from your own insurance company
• Failing to display a cooperative attitude
• Failing to read everything that you are asked to sign
• Allowing your cooperative attitude to become one that has you agreeing to every request, and hesitating to fight any allegation.
• Not hiring a personal injury lawyer in Sherwood Park, because you trust your insurance company more than you do members of the legal community.
Situations that could prove difficult to resolve, in the absence of a lawyer’s assistance
The insurance company has alleged that you are partly to blame for the accident, or for an injury to someone in your vehicle, or in one of the other involved vehicles. The insurance company doubts the veracity of claims about the nature and extent of an injury to one or more of the occupants in your vehicle. Your actions in the days following the accident have created the impression that all involved have reached maximum medical improvement(MMI).
You have failed to have all those riding in the impacted vehicle get seen by a doctor in the 24 hours that followed your accident. Such a mistake could make it easier for the insurance to cast doubts on claims about any slow-to-appear symptoms.
Some of the occupants in the impacted vehicle were under the age of 18. Consequently, you would have grounds for seeking an extension of the deadline for filing a personal injury lawsuit. Still, someone without legal training could find it difficult to succeed in winning such an extension.