Although most people have some form of automobile insurance, very few people understand exactly how the insurance companies actually operate.    There are several misconceptions about the nature of insurance, particularly when it comes to automobile accidents.  These misconceptions are driven by and encouraged by the insurance companies and are for their benefit, not yours. 

The first such misconception is that insurance companies exist for the purpose of helping people recover in the event of an accident.  As noted in this article, this is simply not the case.  In fact, insurance companies spend millions each year to retain inside counsels and law firms for the sole purpose of not only avoiding paying for injuries and losses caused by their insureds, but to prevent their own insureds from recovering for their injuries and losses.

Insurance companies retain huge law firms to defend insurance cases against injured plaintiffs.  These firms spend thousands of dollars on each case to innundate plaintiff’s attorneys and keep them from securing recovery for their clients.  It is a reasonable guess that this fact probably does not surprise most people.

What is probably more surprising is the amount of money that insurance companies pay to keep their own insureds from recovering from their insurer.  The claims process is set up to keep insureds from pursuing claims against their own insurance.  Insureds are encouraged to pursue claims against the other party, even if they do not wish to do so.  Insurance companies employ adjusters and counsel for the specific purpose of keeping their insureds from recovering from them.

This leads to the second myth that needs exploring, the old insurance company standby: “let’s keep the lawyers out of it.”   As part of their attempts to keep insureds from recovering, insurance companies often take the tact of contacting the injured party and offering to negotiate a settlement immediately.  They offer to fix the injured parties car, for example, all under the guise of “helping” the injured party by “protecting” them from the rigors of litigation.    But what the insurance company isn’t telling you is that by accepting that quick recovery, you are waiving your right to pursue full recovery for your injuries.  The reason that they want to “keep the lawyers out of it” is that they know that attorneys have the knowledge to avoid these traps and understand their tactics for what they are.

With these things in mind, here are a few things you should keep in mind immediately after an accident with regards to dealing with an insurance company:

1. Don’t Agree to a Recorded Statement. This is a common insurance company tactic, attempting to get an injured party to give a recorded statement immediately while the injured party is still unrepresented by counsel and many times is still dealing with the immediate shock and pain of the accident.  The goal here is to trick you into costly admissions which will hurt your case later on.
2. Contact an Attorney Immediately:   Getting the advice of an attorney as soon as possible is the best way that you can insure that your rights are protected.  A good personal injury attorney will know how to deal with the insurance companies and will help you recover the most possible money for your pain and losses.
3. Understand Your Rights:  As noted above, insurance companies will attempt to misinform you as to your rights in an accident.   Remember that their goal is not to help you, but rather to keep you from pursuing claims against them.  The more you know about your rights, the better off you are.

The point here is that in making decisions when dealing with insurance companies in regards to your personal injury case, you need to keep in mind the realities of how an insurance company operates.  They are not there for you or to protect your interests, their primary goal is always to keep from paying.  If you keep that in mind, you will be well ahead of the game and your personal injury claim will be stronger as a result.

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Tags: personal injury attorney

This entry was posted on Monday, February 18th, 2008 at 4:21 pm and is filed under Personal Injury. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.