Our Blogs

You suffered a car accident caused by another driver. You are injured. Suddenly, you face many questions. How can I get needed medical care? Will I heal quickly? What happens if I lose my job because I’m hurt? How will I pay my medical bills? How will I deal with the insurance company?

Then, you speak with the insurance adjuster. The adjuster may promise to help you quickly. The adjuster may even promise to pay your medical bills. It happens all the time — The adjuster acts like they are ready to pay your bills and take care of you. Most of the time, it’s not true. Most of the time, the adjuster wants to buy time to protect the insurance company.

The adjuster wants you to provide a recorded statement OR to sign an authorization so the insurance company can dig through your medical records OR simply to string you along. The adjuster tells you information is needed to get you paid. Maybe it is. More likely, it’s an effort to investigate your claim and look for potential reasons to deny it.

Today, I’m going to discuss three simple tricks insurance adjusters use to decrease your car accident injury claim. They are:

Trick Number One:  Insurance Adjusters Who Push Or Pressure Injury Victims To Settle Quickly

In the days after an accident, you may not know the extent of your injuries. At first, you may think it’s just a little soreness. Over time, you hurt worse and worse. You don’t improve. So, you start seeing a doctor.

Some adjusters like to eliminate the insurance company’s risk at your expense. What do I mean? These adjusters quickly offer some small settlement amount in the hope you take it. If your injuries are minor, that’s OK. What if they are worse than you think? What if you take the small settlement and then learn you need extended medical care or surgery? Sometimes, your injuries are much worse than initially thought. In those cases, you lose. The insurance company saves a lot of money.

In today’s world many lawyers even help the adjusters settle cases far too quickly and far too low. If you’ve watched television, you’ve seen the settlement mill lawyer ads promising quick checks for wrecks. The whole industry is a scam which hurts people.

If you accept a small settlement right after the wreck, you are risking a lot. Be as patient as possible. Discovery the extent of your injuries before you negotiate your claim. Get needed medical treatment before you settle your case.

Trick Number Two:  Insurance Adjusters Who Misuse Or Twist The Words Of Injury Victims

Anything you say can be used against you! I’m not trying to scare you. Yet, you should be careful when you speak with the insurance adjuster. Adjusters often record callers. You can expect it.

You may think you are just having a friendly conversation with a “nice” adjuster. You say something friendly about the wreck but the adjuster now twists your words to argue you could have avoided the collision. Oops. Now the adjuster is arguing you are partially at fault.

You may think you are just having a friendly conversation with the “nice” adjuster. You say something about an injury from years earlier. Or, maybe you speculate about whether other issues contributed to your condition. Oops. Now the adjuster is arguing you suffered a pre-existing problem not caused by the accident.

Be careful with your words. The insurance adjuster has a job — Saving the insurance company money! If the adjuster can save money at your expense, he or she is likely to do so.

Trick Number Three:  Insurance Adjusters Who Stall Or Ignore Injury Victims

It’s a complaint I’ve heard over and over. It’s something like this — I’ve left X number of messages (or emails) with the adjuster but she won’t call me back. It happens in Alabama car accident injury claims. It happens in Alabama workers’ compensation claims. You are hurt. You try and try and try to contact the adjuster. But, the adjuster simply quits responding.

The adjuster’s silence may be due to a number of different reasons. Many insurance companies overwork adjusters. They have too many files and too many claimants. Adjusters also change jobs frequently. You called but the adjuster may no longer be assigned to your claim. With all of this said, many times the silence is exactly for the reason you suspect — The adjuster is delaying your claim or ignoring your calls.

What should you do when the adjuster ignores you? At our office, we take action. We file the case. We prepare the case for trial. You too should act if habitually ignored by the adjuster.

For More Advice About Car Accidents And Insurance Adjusters, Check Out Some Of Our Other Blog Posts

In today’s post, I wanted to touch briefly on three issues when communicating with adjusters. In many of my other articles I write about frequent issues in car accident cases. If you have questions, hopefully one of my articles helps. If not, give us a call and we will be happy to provide answers.