The truth is that you should never speak directly to an adjuster right from the start. While the terms of your policy require you to work with your insurance company, that doesn't mean you have to deal with them personally. Just provide the adjuster with your full name, address and phone number, as well as what kind of work you do and where you work. But it's important to remember that the call to the insurance adjuster is only preliminary.
If a claim leads to litigation, you may need to speak under oath. And if you change your testimony under oath, it won't bode well for your case. After a car accident, the other insurance company will likely contact you quickly and try to establish friendly contact. You're never required to talk to the other insurance company, and in most situations, it's best not to.
You don't need to go into details about your personal life with the insurance claims adjuster. The only personal information they need from you is your full name, address and telephone number. You can tell them where you work and what your occupation is, but there's no need to provide details about your activities of daily living, hobbies, work hours, income, etc. It's important to remember that the insurance adjuster's goal is to settle for a small amount before you fully understand what your injuries are and how much your personal injury claim is worth. This turns a conversation with you into an opportunity for them to deny, delay or underestimate your personal injury claim.
It doesn't matter if it's a fire, a car accident, a personal injury claim or a homeowner's insurance claim - when you talk to an insurance adjuster without your personal injury attorney present, they'll try to use your conversation in some way to deny or reduce your claim or even intimidate you. They act quickly because it's a proven tactic to reduce valid personal injury compensation claims. Most people are familiar with insurance claim adjusters after a car accident, but an appraiser will be involved every time an insurance company files a personal injury claim. For a step-by-step guide on how to handle the injury claim process after any type of accident, see Joseph L.'s book How to Win Your Personal Injury Claim.
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