Blog


Beware of Statements

Posted by: Ric Domnitz
June 25, 2007
Topic: Beware of Statements

Beware of Statements


We often have clients come to us days, even weeks or months, after an accident has occurred. People are sometimes focused on their injuries, their ongoing medical treatment, or deciding whether they want to hire a lawyer. In the meantime, they receive a telephone call or a visit from a seemingly friendly insurance adjuster working for the company that insurers the person who caused the accident. BEWARE, danger lurks!!

I would never suggest that anyone relate facts other than the truth in a statement, a deposition, or at trial. But in nearly every accident scenario there are factual issues on both liability (who is responsible for causing the accident) and damages. Insurance adjusters are trained to ask questions regarding issues that, while they are potentially central to the determination of responsibility, may not be obvious to the average person. Time and distance analysis, for example, is a concept that often has great bearing on who is ultimately found to be at fault for an auto accident, and important information concerning facts that later get fed into complicated formulae are often gathered in early interviews with adjusters before people really think through their answers.

A good experienced law firm will protect an injured person from such early statements when potentially crucial information is otherwise provided unwittingly by an unrepresented person. All too often we see early statements where cleverly crafted questions by insurance adjusters result in an inaccurate description of accident facts which are later used against the injured party.

Similarly questions about your physical condition, your medical treatment, and your work status are often designed to limit your recovery. It is virtually impossible to know, in the days immediately following an accident, the nature and extent of your injuries, if any, or the full effect of those injuries on your life. The exchange of information with an insurance company needs to be metered to abide the determination by qualified medical professionals of the full nature and extent of your injuries.

The best protection against such unfair discovery efforts by insurers is to secure quality representation as soon after an accident as possible. Remember, you are dealing with claims adjusters who are professionals trained to record information on an accident in the light most favorable to the interests of the insurer. Don't be fooled by sweet talk about how they want to help you and how they just want to do the right thing by you. Never forget that every casualty insurance company makes their money in the same way: by taking in as much as possible in premiums and by paying out as little as possible in claims.

This is not to say that every insurance adjuster or investigator is out to cheat you. But none of them are out to serve your interests. The only person who will always look out for your best interests is an experienced attorney retained by you to work for you.

Be smart. Get quality representation as soon as practical after an accident. Don't let innocent answers to well-crafted questions eat away at your right to full and fair compensation under the law.


825 N. Jefferson Street-5th Floor | Milwaukee, WI | 53202 | 414-289-0909 | EMAIL US