Talking to Insurance Companies after a Car Accident

 Posted on December 00,0000 in Car Accidents

In the event of a car accident, drivers need to exchange insurance information so that insurance companies can determine who will pay for damages sustained. Each driver is responsible for reporting the accident to his or her own insurance company, and should also provide answers and detailed specifics about the accident. Each driver may be obligated to make his or her vehicle available for inspection by his or her insurance company and provide documented proof of the accident (such as a photo). However, working with an insurance company prior to contacting a lawyer can result in less payouts for injured parties.

With that said, if you are involved in an accident, you are not legally liable to provide the same information to the other driver's insurance company. In fact, this is where many drivers often go wrong, which can thus result in a loss of money in the settlement process.

Often, the less you say to the other driver’s insurance company, the better. Insurance companies, of course, will always attempt to find blame in the driver who is not their client, and will use any verbal slip-up or misinformation to prove this. In the same vein, you are not legally obligated to provide a recorded statement for the other driver’s insurance company, though in some cases may be required to do so for your own.

On the flip side, filing a police report immediately following an accident is absolutely essential. According to DMV.org, the most important step to resolving an accident is to contact the police. What the police submit to their department is the report that insurance companies will use to determine payouts. Because of this, according to DMV.org, you should “try to remember as clearly as you can about the accident sequence of events, and portray this in a reasonably calm and unemotional way to the police.”

Following a car accident, talking to insurance companies and knowing what to say can be confusing and frustrating. Having a dedicated Chicago car accident attorney on your side, especially in a very severe accident, can help to navigate these complicated proceedings, and to know how to best address all facets of the case. If you or someone you know has been injured in a car accident in which you are not at fault, you may be eligible for compensation. Contact the law offices of Salvi & Maher, LLP today.