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The 7 huge mistakes accident victims make (Part 3 of 7)

On Behalf of | Feb 15, 2019 | Uncategorized

Huge Mistake #3

Trusting insurance companies to be fair and honest

As I have said, the insurance companies are working against you. Fair does not factor into their plans. They want to pay you as little money as possible. In fact, it would be a huge success for them if they didn’t have to pay you any money at all.

But, they don’t tell you this. They will pretend that they are being fair. They will make it seem like they want to help you in your difficult time. They will offer you money (a settlement). That seems like a good thing. But, this is all a part of their strategy to pay you little or nothing. Sometimes, they will tell you that the settlement that they offer will go away if you don’t do exactly what they say. This is a lie. They lure you in with the possibility of money, so that you make a mistake so that they don’t have to pay you anything.

I had a client that we’ll call Tony. Tony got injured in a car crash that left him unable to work. A claims adjuster from the insurance company contacted Tony and offered him a small amount of money. Tony needed money for medical bills and for lost wages, so he thought that the claims adjuster wanted to help.

It was at this point that the claims adjuster told Tony a few lies. The claims adjuster told Tony that he had to give a recorded statement. THIS IS NOT TRUE! You do not have to give a recorded statement. Then, the claims adjuster said that the money would go away if Tony did not give a recorded statement. THIS IS NOT TRUE! The money offered would still be available to Tony, even if he didn’t do what the claims adjuster said.

Worrying that he would lose the money that the claims adjuster offered, Tony gave in. He gave the claims adjuster a recorded statement. Tony was still very upset about the car crash that had just happened. He accidently said he had been driving in one direction, when he actually had been travelling in the other direction. Also, Tony accidently said he had been driving in the left lane, but he was traveling in the right lane.

The claims adjuster then branded Tony a liar who was trying to manipulate the insurance company out of money. The insurance company doesn’t have to pay you money if you lie, so the claims adjuster refused to pay any money. This was the plan the whole time. The insurance company never wanted to give Tony any money, but they knew that they would have to pay him if Tony didn’t make any mistakes. So, they tricked him into making mistakes. Luckily, after Tony hired me, we were able to get him a good settlement. Tony was not really obligated to give a recorded statement. My clients NEVER give recorded statements to adjusters and neither should you.