Should You Give a Recorded Statement?
The car wreck happens and then you report the claim to the insurance company for the driver who caused the auto accident. Often times, the adjuster for the bad driver’s insurance company will request a recorded statement. The reason given is usually that they need to “investigate” the accident. However, my experience says that most of the time there is really no need to investigate the accident, as the insurance company adjuster knows what caused the accident. Instead, the adjuster uses the information as a “fishing expedition” to find out more about the injured party.
Questions asked sometimes relate to prior medical history, which obviously has nothing to do with what caused the motor vehicle accident. This is just one example of the ways the insurance company adjusters use the recorded statement to gain information which can possibly help them – and hurt the injury victim’s case.
It is my experience that recorded statements are rarely used for what the insurance company says they are to be used for. Accordingly, I do not believe it is in the best interest of the injured party to give a recorded statement. Why there are exceptions to that general rule, most of the time I do not feel that a recorded statement is necessary. And why give a recorded statement when it can't help your case, it can only hurt it.
If you have been involved in a motor vehicle accident and are concerned about giving a recorded statement, it is probably a good idea to contact an experienced injury attorney to help you with the decision of whether to give a recorded statement. If the decision is made to indeed give or provide a recorded statement, then the scope and detail of the recorded statement should be limited to what is in dispute, the liability (or cause) of the car crash.
This information is provided by Fort Worth Accident Attorney Mark A. Anderson, who can be contacted online at MAAfirm.com or by phone at (817) 294-1900. All initial consultations are free, and it costs nothing to give The Anderson Law Firm a call to discuss your personal injury legal matter.
