Should I Give a Statement to the Insurance Company?

At The Odierno Law Firm, P.C., we often receive calls from car accident victims who have inadvertently undermined their own personal injury claim—namely due to the fact that they made the decision to speak with an insurance adjuster without first consulting an attorney. For this reason, we encourage you to take precaution if you have recently been involved in an accident. The sad truth is that the at-fault driver’s insurance company will do anything that they can to pay you as little money as possible, so it is important for you to understand that you do not have to say a thing until you have had the opportunity to discuss your case with a lawyer. In most cases, an insurance adjuster will call you and ask you to give a statement about the collision. This conversation will be recorded, as they may ask you leading questions about how the accident happened and how serious your injuries are.

While you may think that nothing can go wrong if you’re simply stating the truth, you must understand that a misuse of words could jeopardize your chances of recovering compensation. If you decide to make a statement about your injuries before you have had the chance to undergo a medical examination, for example, you may not yet know that your injuries are more extensive than you had originally thought. In fact, some victims do not experience pain until days or weeks after the accident—which is common for cases of whiplash. Should you bring this to the insurance company’s attention after you have already given a statement, they may argue that you have changed your story and that you are not really as injured as you are claiming to be. Similarly, this could happen if you give a statement about the cause of the accident—as they may attempt to prove that you had admitted fault.

For this reason, it is highly recommended that you politely decline to give a statement to the other party’s insurance company and let a Long Island personal injury lawyer from The Odierno Law Firm, P.C. handle the heavy lifting. We are experienced in taking on the “big bad insurance companies,” so you can feel confident about the future of your case when you trust in our firm to represent you. All we need from you is to take the first step and contact our firm. To learn more about how we can help, give us a call today at (877) 379-5144 for a free initial consultation. If you would prefer to contact us online, you can also fill out the complimentary case evaluation form that is conveniently located on our website.