When to Talk to an Insurance Company After an Accident
After any car accident you may be injured and definitely are shaken up. Your car has been damaged, you may be hurt along with others who were in the car with you, you are worried about what everything is going cost and even wondering how are you going to get to work tomorrow. To top it off your phone rings and it is an insurance adjuster for your insurance company or for the insurance company of the other driver involved in the accident asking a lot of questions about what happened. What do you say to the insurance company calling?
Politely tell the insurance company you are hiring a car accident attorney and hang up the phone. Under Missouri law, you are not required to give a recorded statement to any insurance company and should instead consider contacting an experienced accident attorney. The insurance company naturally wants to pay out as little money as possible. If they can speak to you soon after the accident when you are tired and overwhelmed, you may mistakenly recount the details or question your actions. Or, their questions may be misleading or confusing causing you to say something that is simply incorrect. They want you to admit guilt and unfortunately, whatever you tell the insurance company in a recorded statement, even if you later decide it was incorrect, is very hard, if not impossible to change.
An experienced car accident lawyer can be present with you when speaking to the insurance company at a later date, or can work through the construction of an accurate and appropriate written statement with you. Don't wait too long after an accident before contacting an attorney though, as you do want the details to be fresh in your mind--you just don't want someone rushing you for an official recorded response before your mind is clear. Read other tips on what to do after a car accident.
