If you have been hit by another driver, and have filed a claim, then you can expect to get a call from the adjuster at the other driver’s insurance company. How should you respond to that call?
Examining the situation at the time of the adjuster’s call:
Adjusters place such a call after they have spent time studying the police report. That report might contain a statement from the driver, or from any passengers. That statement might make mention of an injury.
Adjusters place their calls soon after accident’s occurrence. As a result, the driver may not know the full extent of his or her injuries. By the same token, the contacted driver lacks much information on the exact nature of the passengers’ injuries.
Legal obligation of the person contacted by the adjuster.
The person that is contacted by the adjuster from the other driver’s insurance company is not required to cooperate with that same individual. That makes sense, in light of the fact that the call gets made well before the person who receives it has been able to learn much about the full extent of his or her injuries.
Moreover, all adjusters have the same the same goal, when contacting the driver that has filed the personal injury claim. Each of them hopes to minimize the claim. Naturally, the ability to catch the filer of the claim before he or she understands the full extent of any injuries makes it easier to accomplish that particular goal.
Legal obligation of policy holder that has been involved in a car accident?
The policy holder must cooperate with his or her own insurance company. Yet the law does not make clear the extent to which the policy holder must cooperate with his or her own insurer. The other insurance agency might insist that the driver that has purchased coverage from them was only partly responsible for the accident.
Such a claim represents an effort to reduce the amount of compensation that is owed to the injured driver, and to any passengers. A smart policy holder appreciates the value linked to preparing for such an approach from the contacting adjuster.
Owing to the fact that the adjuster’s call might lead to an allegation against the policy holder, the correct action should be taken. That allegation could well charge the policy holder/driver with having contributed in some way to the occurrence of the accident.
So, what should be the nature of the policy holder’s action? That action should include time on the phone, trying to arrange a time to consult with a Personal Injury Lawyer in Mississauga. The attorney’s help ought to reduce the chances that the driver’s compensation might be reduced, due to the adjuster’s quest for smaller claim.
