It is common for an individual involved in a car accident to be requested by his or her insurance company to give a recorded statement. However, it should be noted that with regard to personal injury cases, there is no law in any state that requires the injured person to give a recorded statement to the insurance company of the driver who is potentially at fault. This article will discuss how a recorded statement can be used against an individual in a car accident case.

Insurance companies like to take the recorded statements of people who are injured. However, if you are the one making an injury claim and the other driver’s insurance adjuster or investigator wants you to make a recorded statement, you should be very careful about agreeing to it. If you give a recorded statement to the defendant’s insurer be aware that “everything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law”. One lawyer stated that, “some people reason that the statement is not under oath so it is not a big deal, however, when it comes to personal injury litigation the statement of the plaintiff does not have to be under oath for it to be used against him or her. The bottom line is whatever you say to the insurer whether formally or informally can be used against you when it comes to your personal injury case. And this is even more so when you give a recorded statement to an insurance adjuster or investigator.” The reality is you as an individual are trying to give an honest statement, however, it is important to realize that whoever is taking that statement is a professional at taking statements and has two ultimate goals; (1) to find out what your story is and (2) to see if he or she can twist your words around to make you look bad.

As mentioned at the outset ‘in personal injury cases there is no law in any state that requires the injured person to give a recorded statement to the insurance company of the driver who is potentially at fault’. Therefore, while you have the duty to co-operate with your own insurance company you do not have that duty with the other driver’s insurance company.

One of the important things that any plaintiff must realize is that giving the insurer a recorded statement will not help your case, especially if the plaintiff is legally unrepresented. By giving your statement to the insurer all this does is give the insurer more information for them to defend the case, refuse the claim outright or come up with a low settlement offer. In addition, even if the insurance adjuster advises that giving a statement will help your case, you must know that the adjuster is not telling the truth. If you give a statement, the most likely outcome is after the statement is given some time will pass and the insurer will thank you for giving the statement but will tell you that unfortunately they are unable to settle your personal injury case, and now that they have your statement you have nothing.

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Crowson Law Group is a law firm of renowned professionals who focus exclusively on personal injury matters. To receive representation in a wrongful injury lawsuit contact Crowson Law Group today.