You've been in a car accident, and you've notified your car insurance company that you intend to pursue a claim over your injuries and vehicle damage. A few days later, you get a call from an insurance adjuster representing the other driver's carrier. The adjuster wants to talk about how the accident happened, the nature and extent of your car accident injuries, and other details related to the crash. They might even offer you a quick payment. What should you do?
In this article, we'll cover:
- what you're legally obligated to do when the other driver's insurer calls or emails you after a car accident
- what you should you do in order to protect your car accident claim when it comes to communicating with the other driver's insurer, and
- why the communication picture (and your obligations) are different when you're dealing with your own insurance company, and when you're filing a claim directly with the other driver's insurer.
Who Must You Cooperate With After a Car Accident?
Your initial obligations after a car accident are usually dictated by your state's vehicle code and whose insurance company you're filing a claim with (your own or the other driver's). In general, you usually must talk to and cooperate with:
- any police officer who comes to the accident scene
- your own insurance company, and
- the other driver's insurer only if you're filing a claim directly with that company
Note that at the accident scene itself, you're usually also required to exchange information with other drivers and anyone injured in the crash. More on this later.
When it comes to talking with your own car insurance company, your policy requires you to report any car accident and cooperate with your insurer any time you're involved in an incident that could trigger coverage, and/or you make a claim for benefits under your policy. So it's important to let your own insurance company know about the crash and provide any information relevant to the accident so that they can investigate what happened.
You Do Not (Usually) Have to Call or Speak to The Other Driver’s Insurance Company
You are usually NOT required to talk to the other driver's insurance company claims adjuster, and it is rarely in your best interest to do so.
The other side's claims adjuster may contact you and try to get you to provide a statement or other information about the accident shortly afterwards. They might even offer payment to settle your car accident case, even if you've given no indication that you intend to file a claim with their company. Think of this as a sort of preemptive strike by the other driver's insurer. They'd gladly pay you a few hundred (or even a couple thousand) dollars to make any claim you have go away before the claim process can even get started.
The other driver's insurance adjuster's objective here is to extract information or force action from you that might:
- help them show that you were at fault for the accident
- minimize any potential claim you have, or defeat it altogether, and/or
- settle any case you might have against the other driver for a tiny fraction of what your car accident claim is worth.
Your obligations are different if you're filing an insurance claim (called a "third party claim") directly with the other driver's insurance company. More on this later.
What If the Other Driver’s Insurance Company Keeps Calling Me?
A claims adjuster for the other driver's insurance company will typically contact you shortly after the accident. These calls usually come before you know the full nature and extent of your injuries. So, even if talking to the other driver's insurer were a good idea (which it almost never is), you probably aren't in a position to accurately tell the adjuster exactly how badly you were injured, for one thing. You could still be in the early stages of a course of medical treatment. So, you are better off politely declining a claims adjuster's request to provide a statement about the accident and your injuries.
If the adjuster won't back off, you can always discuss your situation with an attorney, or just let the adjuster know that you intend to talk to a lawyer if the calls don't stop.
How Should I Communicate With the Other Driver's Insurance Company When Required?
Keep it short and simple. Don't offer any information, and make it clear that you're not going to go into any specifics. It's perfectly acceptable to politely but firmly say something like, "I'm not going to discuss details about the accident or my injuries right now."
If you're still seeing a doctor about your car accident injuries, you can add, "I'm still receiving medical treatment, so I'm not going to go into any specifics about my injuries, and I'm going to wait until I understand the fair value of my case."
If the other side's insurance company is offering to give you money, do not accept it, do not sign anything, and tell them (again, politely but firmly) "I'm not going to discuss settlement, sign anything, or accept any payment from you right now."
When Should I Talk to the Other Driver’s Insurance Company?
So far we've talked about the other driver's car insurance company contacting you somewhat out of the blue after an accident, and we've explained that you're not obligated to provide any information to the other side's insurer. The situation is different if you've filed an insurance claim directly with the other driver's insurer (this is called a "third party car insurance claim").
At this point, you need to provide the other driver's insurance company with certain information about the crash and your injuries, including your relevant medical records and documents related to lost income.
In the early stages of a third party car accident injury claim, for example, the other driver's insurance company will likely ask you to sign an "Authorization for Release of Medical Records" (or similarly-named form). This is standard protocol, and you'll need to sign this form so that the other driver's insurance company can investigate and assess your claim. Typically, this form will include language limiting the release to records related to treatment of your car accident injuries. If it doesn't, ask the insurance adjuster to narrow the scope of the request before you sign it.
But even with a third party claim, most of the words of caution we provided above still apply. Don't entertain any discussion of settlement (and certainly don't accept any payment) until you have a full understanding of your car accident injuries, what it's going to take to fully heal, and the fair value of your claim. Learn more about how third party car insurance claims work.
Talking (and Not Talking) After a Car Accident
When you are in a car accident, the usual protocol is to first get all vehicles off the road and out of harm's way, to next check to see if anyone has been injured, and to then to report the accident to the police. Unless someone has sustained a serious injury, the drivers involved in the accident usually begin to exchange insurance information while waiting for the police to arrive. (More tips on what to do after a car accident.)
Although sometimes tempers can flare and accusations about who caused the car accident can be made, the best course is usually to avoid discussing fault with those at the scene, and to save those discussions for the investigating police officer.
The Police Report
Once the officer has spoken to all of the parties and witnesses, they will prepare a report that may or may not contain a preliminary conclusion on who was at fault. Depending on how detailed the report is, and whether it contains evidence of liability, this police report can take on a great deal of importance for purposes of the drivers' respective insurance claims, as well as any future lawsuits that may arise as a result of the accident.
The police report will eventually end up in the files of the claims adjusters for the drivers' insurance companies. These adjusters will have the responsibility to determine their companies' liability to their insureds and to the other people involved in the accident. Learn more about how police reports are used in a car accident case.
The Insurance Companies' Investigation
Next, the insurance companies for both drivers will try to sort out liability for the accident. Often, this can hinge on what was seen and heard at the scene of the accident.
For example, if Driver A admits at the scene that the accident was his fault, and Driver A's liability is corroborated by the other driver(s) and witnesses, the claims adjuster might not need to do much more to reach a conclusion as to fault.
If, however, Drivers A and B give conflicting accounts of how the accident occurred, and the witnesses' statements are inconsistent, the police may not be able to draw a conclusion as to fault, and the claims adjuster will have to conduct a further investigation. It is under these circumstances that the claims adjuster will want to speak with all persons who have first-hand knowledge of the underlying facts, including the company's insured and the driver(s) of the other vehicle(s).
Next Steps After a Car Accident
As we've covered here, the right course of action is usually to cooperate fully with your own insurance company after a car accident, and be very careful when communicating with the other driver's insurer. When your car accident injuries are serious, and things are getting contentious—or you just want to put your claim in the hands of an experienced professional—it might make sense to talk to a car accident lawyer.
An attorney can determine when (if ever) it's a good idea to speak to the other driver's insurance company. And you can rest assured that your attorney (not you) will be the one doing the talking. Learn more about how a lawyer can help after a car accident.
You can also use the features on this page to connect with a car accident attorney near you.