5 Things Accident Victims Should Never Say to an Insurance Adjuster (2024)

FAQs

What should you not say when making an insurance claim? ›

Insurance adjusters often start with a lowball offer, hoping you will accept it without question. To scare an insurance adjuster, you must demonstrate that you know the true value of your claim. Reject the lowball offer in writing and provide a detailed explanation of why you believe the offer is inadequate.

Some insurance companies use shady calculations to come up with your settlement offer. If your offer is too low, ask the adjuster how they came up with that figure. Many insurance adjusters will lowball you on non-economic damages. That's because they don't have a set dollar amount attached, unlike economic damages.

If you're not satisfied with the offer from the adjuster, don't be afraid to reject it outright and take them to court if necessary. Many times, the threat of a lawsuit is enough to get an insurance company to increase their offer. But if not, then you may need to go through the legal process to get what you deserve.

Unfair claims practice is the improper avoidance of a claim by an insurer or an attempt to reduce the size of the claim. By engaging in unfair claims practices, an insurer tries to reduce its costs.

One of the strategies frequently employed by insurance companies to reduce the amount they pay out is to dispute liability. The following are tactics they may use: Shifting blame: Insurance companies may attempt to shift the blame for the accident onto you, even when evidence suggests otherwise.

Dispute the Decision and File a Complaint

Many policies allow you to request arbitration through the insurance company. You'll present evidence to an independent adjuster, who then makes a binding settlement determination. You can also file a complaint with your state department of insurance.

Do insurance companies use scare tactics? ›

Tactics Insurance Adjusters Use

One of the most common scare tactics they use is to delay a decision on your claim. They know that when you're dealing with a severe injury, time is not your friend. Medical bills pile up. You might be missing work.

Understanding the STAR Method

Situation: Describe the context within which a task was performed, or a challenge was faced. Task: Explain the specific task or challenge involved. Action: Detail the actions taken to address the task or challenge. Result: Shre the outcomes or results of those actions.

Avoid making guesses or unsupported statements about what caused the damage to your property. Speculating can lead to inaccuracies in the adjuster's report, potentially affecting your claim.

Bias: Believe it or not, insurance adjusters hold a significant bias. In our personal experience, we have encountered claims where the insurance carrier's adjusters appeared to have used socioeconomic bias to justify limiting the investigative process, thus minimizing the overall value of a claim.