Talking to the adjuster after a Houston car wreck: what they ask, and what to say

Within days of a Houston car wreck, your phone may ring with a friendly voice from the other driver’s insurance company. The adjuster is polite, sympathetic and in a hurry. Our Houston attorneys used to work on that side of the call, as an adjuster, as defense lawyers and as trial attorneys for insurers, so here is what the call is really for.

Why the call comes so early

Early on, you are hurting, unsure what your injury will need and eager to have the car fixed. That is when a person is most likely to say something that can be used later, or to accept a quick number. The adjuster’s job is to close the file for as little as the facts and the policy allow. Nothing about that is personal or hidden.

What the adjuster usually asks for

• A recorded statement about how the wreck happened.
• A description of your injuries, often before you have seen a doctor more than once.
• A signed authorization to collect your medical records, sometimes reaching back years.
• Agreement to a quick payment, often tied to a release.

The recorded statement

No rule makes you give the other driver’s insurer a recorded statement. If you give one, small words can matter later. Saying you are fine, guessing at speeds, or agreeing that you did not see the other car can each be used to argue that you share the blame. Texas reduces a recovery by your own share of fault and bars it above 50 percent (Civil Practice and Remedies Code 33.001), so every percent the adjuster can move matters.

Your own insurer is different: your policy may require you to report the wreck and cooperate. Even then, it helps to talk with us first about how to describe what happened.

The medical authorization

A broad authorization lets the insurer collect records far beyond the wreck, looking for an earlier injury to the same part of your body. If records are needed, we send the relevant ones ourselves, in order, so the file shows what the wreck did.

The quick offer

An early offer usually comes before the full cost of the injury is known. Accepting it usually means signing a release that ends the claim for good, even if the injury turns out to be worse than it seemed. Before you sign anything from an insurer, understand exactly what it ends.

What to say instead

You can keep it short and polite. Give your name and contact details, confirm the date of the wreck, and say that you are getting medical care and will be in touch. Decline the recorded statement. Then call us. Once you hire us, the insurer talks to us, not to you.

If the adjuster keeps calling

Some adjusters call often, especially when they want a statement or a signature before you talk with a lawyer. You can ask that all contact be in writing. You can also simply say that you are represented, once you have hired us, and give them our number. From then on, the insurer has to deal with your lawyer.

Never feel rushed by a deadline the adjuster sets for an answer. An offer that disappears if you take a week to think is worth thinking about even harder.

Keep notes of every call: the date, the adjuster’s name, the claim number and what was said. If the adjuster made an offer or a promise, write it down. Those notes help us pick up the claim exactly where it stands.

Who is on your side of the call

In our Houston office, Ian Nelsen was an adjuster and an insurance defense attorney, Howard Hill spent over 20 years with two of the nation’s largest auto and commercial insurers, and Jonathan Harris, Board Certified, Personal Injury Trial Law – Texas Board of Legal Specialization, spent more than a decade as a senior trial attorney for a major automobile insurer. No Fees or Costs Unless We Win: the firm advances the costs of your case, and you pay no attorney’s fee and no case costs unless we recover money for you.