Should I Give the Adjuster a Recorded Statement?

The call comes fast

Within a day or two of a crash, someone from the other driver’s insurance company will call. They will be polite, sympathetic, and in a hurry. Somewhere in the conversation they will ask whether they can record your account of what happened, “just so we have it on file.”

That request is not paperwork. A recorded statement is the insurer’s first chance to lock in your story before you know how badly you are hurt, before you have talked to anyone, and before you have seen the police report.

You generally do not have to give one

You are generally not required to give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer. They are not your insurance company, and you have no contract with them.

Your own insurance company is different. Your policy probably requires you to cooperate with it, and that can include giving a statement. Even then, it is worth talking to a lawyer first about how to do it.

How a friendly conversation gets used against you

Nobody on these calls will be rude to you. The questions are designed to sound harmless:

• “How are you doing today?” You say “fine, thanks,” the way anyone would. Months later, that sentence is read back to show you were not really hurt.
• “Would you say it was a minor accident?” You were trying to be reasonable. Now you have agreed your injuries came from a minor accident.
• “How fast were you going?” You guess. The guess becomes a fact, and any difference from the police report becomes a credibility problem.
• “Have you ever hurt your neck before?” You mention an old sprain. Now every symptom is blamed on it.
• “Did you see the other car before it hit you?” There is no good answer. “No” means you were not paying attention; “yes” means you could have avoided it.

None of this requires the adjuster to be dishonest. The statement is simply recorded at the moment you know the least, and kept for the moment it helps them most.

What to say instead

You can decline politely, and it does not make you look guilty. Something like this is enough:

“I’m not going to give a recorded statement. Please send any questions in writing, or my attorney will be in touch.”

Give them your name and contact details if they ask. Do not discuss how the crash happened, how you feel, or what your doctor said.

Watch for the medical authorization, too

The same call, or a letter soon after, will often ask you to sign a medical authorization. It is usually written to let the insurer pull your entire medical history, not just the records from this crash. Do not sign it. Your lawyer will provide the records that are actually relevant.

If you already gave one

People give these statements every day because they did not know they could say no. If you already did, it is not the end of your claim. Write down what you remember saying, and tell your lawyer on the first call. A statement given in good faith in the first days after a crash can usually be put in context.

The short version

Be polite, give your contact details, and decline the recording. Then call a lawyer before you talk to the other driver’s insurer again. The consultation with Johnson Injury Law is free, and Boyd takes the call himself: (714) 656-2400.