How insurance companies handle injury claims

Adjusters often call within days of an accident with a settlement offer. The offer looks generous if you have been out of work and have medical bills arriving. In reality it’s almost always below the full value of the claim.

Once you accept and sign the release, the claim is over. Future medical care, future lost wages, and long-term effects of your injury are no longer recoverable.

Do not accept an early offer without speaking to an attorney first.

Adjusters routinely ask injured people to give a recorded statement. They frame it as routine — “just so we have your side.” In practice, adjusters are trained to ask questions designed to produce answers that minimize the claim.

You are not required to give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurance company. Politely decline until you have spoken with an attorney.

Adjusters may send a broad medical release — one that gives them access to your entire medical history, not just treatment for this injury. They then search for pre-existing conditions to argue that your current symptoms are not from the accident.

Your attorney will send only the records relevant to the claim.

Insurance companies routinely monitor the social media accounts of people with open injury claims. A photo of you smiling at a family event or a post about a weekend trip can be used to argue that your injuries aren’t as bad as you’ve claimed.

The safest course is to stop posting about your life until the claim is resolved.

Insurance companies know that the longer a claim stays open, the more pressure builds on the injured person to accept a low offer. Bills arrive. Savings run out. The adjuster becomes the only option.

An attorney levels the field. They can file suit if needed and push the case forward on your terms, not the insurer’s.