The insurance adjuster is not your friend. The insurance adjuster does not work for you. The insurance adjuster gets paid, promoted, and earns bonuses by saving money for the insurance company. Dealing with an insurance adjuster is one of the many obstacles you’ll face if you are injured in a car accident.
Insurance companies are for-profit organizations. Their purpose is to make money for their shareholders. Every dollar an insurance company saves by holding back on your claim is profit for them. No matter how nice the adjuster may seem or what he or she tells you, the adjuster is not concerned with fairness, making you whole again, or determining where liability actually falls.
Insurance adjusters are trained to do what is necessary to pay out as little as possible on your claim. The “nice guy” act is one of the tricks used to make adjusters seem trustworthy so they can convince you to divulge information you might not do otherwise. They do this so they can use the information against you during your settlement. Adjusters often record your statement, which they can later use out of context. Therefore, you should refrain from permitting recordings of your statements unless you have consulted with your attorney. You should not grant access to your past records before consulting with an attorney. When given access, insurance companies will work to uncover any information in an attempt to disqualify a person from getting their due in claims.
Studies by insurance companies have shown that injured people employing the services of an attorney receive much more in settlement than those without representation (even after the legal fees have been paid).
