Immediately following an accident, you may be contacted by an insurance adjuster from either the insurance company who represents you, or the insurance company for the other driver.
If you find yourself in this position, it will be helpful to know of the various pieces of information that you should share with both insurance companies involved. Some of the information that you are asked for will help expedite the claims process and limit any potential delays in processing your claim.
However, some information that you will likely be asked for could potentially damage your claim and limit the amount of money you receive as compensation.
It is usually safe to give the insurance company - either your insurance company or that of the other driver - the following information:
- Your name, address and telephone number,
- A short concise version of the accident,
- A short concise summary of your injuries,
- The name of your insurance company.
Perhaps equally important, there are a number of things that you probably should not give to your insurance company or the insurance company who represents the other driver. This includes:
- You should not give a recorded statement, at least not until you have consulted with an attorney.
- You should not sign a medical authorization.
- You should not make any damaging statements, such as "I'm fine," or "the accident wasn't that bad." The insurance company will undoubtedly try to use these statements against you down the road.
The other insurance company can request a copy of the police accident report which contains all of the other information it will need to process the claim.
