When car accidents happen, we console ourselves with the thought that insurance will take care of our losses. Everything seems fine when we receive a timely and prompt phone call from either our insurer or the at-fault party’s claims adjuster.

They seem concerned about our injuries, express their readiness to help and assure us that they have our best interests at heart.

To this end, they request an immediate meeting. Even though you’re still in hospital, or you’ve just been discharged and are convalescing at home, the claims adjuster wishes to come over and meet you.

As experienced Woodstock personal injury lawyers, we are frequently asked by people who have suffered serious injuries in a car accident caused by someone else’s fault or negligence whether it’s OK to talk to the insurance company representatives on their own.

Good idea? Absolutely not!

Why They Request Such Meetings 

Insurance companies are for-profit organizations, whose main focus is to protect their business interests and minimize or avoid settlement payouts as far as possible.

To this end, they may not always have your interests or rights at heart.

Injured victims and their families are at their most vulnerable in the period that immediately follows a crisis or traumatic event, hence an early meeting would be most beneficial for the insurer.

The reasons for meeting injured victims without the presence of a lawyer include:

• Victims and family-members may be unaware of their rights, risks and entitlements
• They may not be completely familiar with the legal, medical and insurance issues, or their own insurance policies
• They may not know the full extent of their injuries
• Claims adjusters may appear empathetic and caring, but their job is to investigate the accident and file a report which helps the insurer to keep the settlement as low as possible
• The insurer, unlike personal injury lawyers, has only a minimal duty to protect your interests
• They need to control the pace, dimensions and nature of negotiations as early as possible
• If they represent the at-fault party, obviously their loyalty would be towards them
• Your own insurer may wish to avoid a hefty payout and could delay or dispute your claim
• Claims adjusters are highly educated, trained, skilled, knowledgeable and experienced professionals who can “nudge” you into making decisions against your interests
• They may offer swift settlements while assuring you that this is the best offer you’ll ever get
• Claims adjusters may advise you against getting embroiled in the legal process – it’s expensive, that lawyers may fleece you, the procedures are long-drawn-out, unpredictable, etc
• Your personal injury lawyer knows that if negotiations are unfruitful, you are fully entitled to take the case to trial
• Meeting injured victims without a lawyer present is the best way for insurers to get information, chance upon victims making inadvertent statements or admissions, of getting them to make recorded submissions, getting permission to access confidential records, perhaps admitting some level of contributory negligence, or that they can cope with their problems etc.

It’s important that injured victims/family-members contact an experienced Woodstock personal injury lawyer before they communicate with insurers.