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What not to say to your insurance agent after a Tampa car accident.
You're in a car accident in Tampa. Your car is damaged and you suffer from significant injuries to your neck and back. You contact your insurance agent to let the agent know about the Tampa car accident and report your claim. Tampa car accident lawyers will tell you that there are certain things you should not say to your insurance agent. Tampa injury lawyers will always advise that you should tell the truth, but you should be careful about the words that you select to use in describing the accident and your injuries. Doing so will help you avoid delays in getting your car repair and the medical treatment you need.
For example, it does not make sense after a Tampa auto accident to tell the other party that you are sorry, which suggests that you are taking full responsibility for having caused the accident. Maybe ultimately you are fully responsible for the Tampa car accident, but immediately after the Tampa accident you are likely to be emotionally charged and you are not in the best condition to make a fair and accurate evaluation of exactly what happened. You can still be compassionate with anyone that was involved in the Tampa car accident, but that does not mean that you also need to immediately accept responsibility for it. The same is true if you call your insurance company immediately after the accident or from the Tampa accident scene. You can let them know that accident occurred, but should they ask for recorded statement just let them know that now is not a good time for it. Explain to your insurance company that you would be glad to give them a recorded statement in the future. You can give them a recorded statement once you've had a chance to review the facts, gain perspective, and if appropriate speak with an attorney at a Tampa injury law firm. There will never be a good reason to give a recorded statement to the other driver’s auto insurance company. Either they will be accepting responsibility for the claim or they will not. A recorded statement from you is not going to change that. Just remember, after a Tampa car accident, it is important that you take time to think before you speak to anyone.
Of course, thinking is very important when dealing with insurance companies, whether you have just come home to water damage in your Tampa home or are in a rear end auto accident in Tampa. It is important that you stay composed and only speak to your insurer about facts that you know, not what you think or guess. Your opinion about rates of speed, distance and other similar matters pertaining to your Tampa car accident may be very wrong and the supposed facts can later be used against you. It may help to take photographs at the Tampa car accident scene with either a digital camera or a cell phone so that you don't have to guess, you’ll have information and facts memorialized for future reference. And if you speak to the auto insurance company immediately after a Tampa auto accident, rather than saying that you were not injured it may be more appropriate to say, I'm not sure. After all, many times injuries are not felt until sometime after the accident once the inflammation sets in and the adrenaline of having just been involved in a Tampa vehicle accident wears off. If you do feel pain immediately after your Tampa car accident, describe it to the insurance agent... but don't self diagnose. Again, your self diagnosis may be very wrong. And of course, it never makes sense to sign a release at the scene of the accident in Tampa. You need time to get a better understanding of what the injuries and damages are from the Tampa car accident before you should be willing to release the at fault party and/or any insurance company from liability.
When describing your injuries to an auto insurance company adjuster, you should never use the word whiplash. Over the last several decades, the word whiplash has taken on too many negative connotations. The word has come to encompass a range of injuries to the neck caused by a sudden impact. As soon as a car accident adjuster hears the term, the adjuster and most people for that matter immediately conjure up in the image of somebody who is making up their injury or trying to exaggerate their claim for monetary gain. Better, just describe your symptoms. So for example, rather than use the word whiplash, you might explain that you have difficulty moving your neck. Even better than that, you might wait until your doctor gives you a diagnosis for your injuries that are related to your car accident Tampa. You can then share that with your insurer without concern that you have given your auto insurance company inaccurate information.
Also, before calling the auto accident adjuster from your own company, you might consider pulling the auto insurance policy from your files to review it. You are looking for descriptions of what exactly is covered by your auto insurance policy. That way, you can be sure that you are using the appropriate terms to describe the damages or injuries from the incident. You will then now in advance whether your policy provides for compensation for the injuries and damages you suffered in the Tampa car accident. For example, most folks who see 3 inches of water on the floor of their home as result of a washing machine leak would say that their home was flooded. But insurance companies generally define floods as water that comes from the outside into the home. Most often times these types of floods may not be covered by the policy. So you would have been much better off if you had simply stated to your insurance company that water has accumulated on your floors throughout the house because of a leaky dishwasher. That claim is more likely to be covered in full by your insurance policy.
Finally, if you need your health insurance company to pay for portions of your medical treatment that are necessary as result of injuries from a Tampa auto accident, Tampa injury lawyers will tell you that is important that you do not describe the treatment or procedure that you are looking for as experimental. Most health insurance plans require that you receive their approval before any medical treatments that are not common practice. If you describe the treatment or procedure to your insurance company as experimental, the insurer may not cover the treatment. Tampa injury attorneys will tell you that it is better to have the doctor or the doctor’s office explain the treatment or procedure to the insurer. At the same time, they can also explain to insurer why you need it.
Should you find yourself in a situation where you need to contact an auto insurance agent after a Tampa car accident, feel free to contact our Tampa law firm to review the matters discussed in this article as well as receive additional tips for dealing with the insurance company. Our Tampa car accident lawyers will be glad to be of help to you to make sure that your experience in dealing with the auto insurance company goes as smoothly as possible.
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