What should I do if the negligent party’s insurance company calls me?

As a general rule, we advise our clients to avoid talking to the negligent party’s insurance representative. First, you have no legal obligation to cooperate in any way with the negligent party’s insurance company. In our experience, the primary objective of these telephone calls is to either try to convince you to resolve your claim quickly and for little money, or to try to create some kind of record that your injuries are very minor or nonexistent.

Many of our clients who turn out to have serious, long-term physical problems, did not feel significantly injured a day or two after their crash. If they had happened to speak with an insurance representative within a day or two after the crash, the insurance company would likely have the impression that our clients were not injured.

Once an insurance company representative records this impression in an insurance file, it is extremely difficult to convince an insurance company otherwise. However, there are other times that we feel that it is appropriate that our client speaks with the negligent party’s insurance representatives. It really depends on what we feel will be best for our client at that given time.