When you are involved in a not my fault accident, you are under no legal obligation to talk to the at-fault driver’s insurer. In fact, it is very risky to talk to the insurance adjuster for the at-fault driver because it will only complicate your case. Remember that insurance companies are always looking out for their financial interests. As such, the at-fault driver’s insurance adjuster will try to weaken your claims to negotiate the lowest possible settlement. Here are some of the sneaky tricks used by insurance adjusters to undermine your claim.
1. Exploiting inconsistencies in your statements
In a not my fault accident, the at-fault driver’s insurance adjuster will compare the statement you gave them with the one that you provided the police. Here, the insurance adjuster knows that you might tell the accident story slightly different if required to do so several times over a few months. If any inconsistencies are spotted in the statements, your claims can be undermined and rejected.
2. Playing with your emotions
After not my fault accident, you will be furious if the at-fault driver and their insurer refuted your compensation claims. Worse still, insurance adjusters know how to play with your emotions in a way that will hurt your claim. In particular, the adjuster will aggressively push you to the point that you become emotionally frustrated and agree to inaccurate facts. During questioning, for instance, you can quickly get annoyed and respond, “I guess so,” to get the adjuster to leave you alone. Such a vague response will only hurt your claim.
What to do
You can only talk to the at-fault driver’s insurance adjuster when it is clear that the other driver caused the accident. This is only possible if the police cited the at-fault driver or if you have overwhelming evidence. Otherwise, get an attorney in case of dispute about who was at fault or if the accident caused severe injuries.
Insurance compensation negotiations are messy and time-consuming. At Not My Fault, we will give you an accident replacement car so that you can move around with ease during insurance negotiations.
