After you have been in an automobile accident, you need to contact the company from which you purchased your car insurance policy. Do not share any details; just state the bare facts. Make it obvious that you have no desire to remain on the line. That way you can avoid a real danger.
What is that danger? It is the possibility that you might be ask to provide the insurer with a full account of the accident, so that that your account could be recorded. You do not want to be forced into that situation, at least not at that time.
Why is that not the right time for you to provide your insurer with such a statement?
When you report the accident, the insurance company does not automatically start collecting the resources that can be used to provide you with adequate compensation. In fact, it would probably love to find a reason for denying you the coverage that you expect. If your insurer gets hold of a recorded statement, your words will be examined closely, in hopes of finding a way to discredit or deny your claim.
The fewer words that you speak at that time, the less basis a defense lawyer would have for trying to put a slant on what you have said. If your case were to go to trial, you would get questioned by the attorney for the defendant. That same attorney might try to put a slant or a spin on what you have stated.
The defense lawyer would love to have some information that could be used as the basis for a question. In fact, that attorney would love to discover a fact that could be mentioned in a leading question. That question might be asked to your or to any witnesses, in order to downplay the serious nature of the collision.
If you have any prior injuries, and if the legal counsel for the defendant learns about them, then you face the prospect of having to admit in court to that part of your past medical history. In that way, the lawyer can try to persuade the jury that your current problems reflect the incomplete healing of that earlier wound, rather than the pain and suffering caused by your more recent injury.
Is there never a time when you should feel willing to give a statement to your insurance company?
After you have hired an injury lawyer in Spruce Grove that member of the legal profession can make arrangements for a time when you can provide your insurer with a statement. It might be a verbal statement, or it could be one that you need to write out.
You will probably go to your lawyer’s office in order to present your account of what took place on the day of the accident. There, you should be able to think clearly about what you plan to say.