Accidents And Insurance Adjusters

The Insurance Adjuster Is Here, What Do I Do?

Many people are surprised to find their insurance company's insurance adjuster at the scene of an accident within minutes of reporting the accident or the next day at their home or office. Often, the adjuster will show up very quickly for one reason only, to keep the amount the insurance company has to pay to a minimum. Here are some tips for what you should do if the insurance adjuster shows up immediately after an accident or within a day to two at your home.

Don't Take The Money, Yet

Insurance-adjusting representatives are all about saving money: the insurance company's money. People often think that the insurance company is working for them, but the insurance company is working for their shareholders or board of directors. The job of the company is to take in premiums and pay out as little as possible. To help make this happen, the insurance adjuster will often show up at the scene of the accident and make an offer to the insured person right then and there. The adjuster is counting on the insured person being vulnerable and not thinking clearly, which most people are after an accident. The adjuster wants you to take the offer because it will be quite low.

Never, never take an offer from the adjuster at the scene of an accident or within the first day or two afterwards. Why? Because you may be more injured than you first suspected, the vehicle may have damage that can't easily be seen, and the insurance adjuster is trying to save money but not offering you everything you are entitled to. It's that simple

Don't Fall Prey To The Adjuster's Questions

Remember, insurance adjusters are out to save money. One way they try to do this is by getting you to accept some of the responsibility for the accident to lower the amount that you may be paid. They are experts at asking loaded questions. For example, an adjuster may ask questions like what you could have done to avoid the accident, and how much of the accident are you responsible for. Any answer to these questions is going to put some of the responsibility back on you. And it's easy to fall into the trap and say things like you could have avoided being hit by slowing down or checking cross streets more carefully. To the adjuster, that's claiming responsibility.

The best thing you can do protect yourself from the insurance adjuster is to hire a personal injury lawyer who will be on your side. Always remember that insurance adjusters work for the insurance company, not for you. This will save you a lot of heartache and trouble.