Yes. You are under a duty to cooperate with your own insurance company. Most insurance companies require you to promptly report any accident you’ve been involved in. If you don’t notify them, it could result in complete loss of coverage for the accident.

However, when you do speak to them, stick to the facts of the incident. This is similar to speaking with the cops or the other driver’s insurance company. Do not place blame or accept blame—simply notify them of the accident and the facts surrounding it. Although many of follow up questions may seem harmless, they can be designed to poke holes and potentially reduce your claim. Before speaking with your insurance company again, and providing any other information, you should speak with a personal injury attorney to discuss your situation.

The best thing to do is to hire a personal injury attorney to handle communication unless you want to risk hurting your claim. Upon being retained, your personal injury attorney will send a letter of representation to make them the contact point.

Unfortunately, insurance companies can take answers to what appear as harmless questions and make it as if you were never harmed or reduce your compensation.

Our case evaluations for personal injury claims are FREE. We will typically do an initial intake on the phone or through email to see if your claim qualifies. If we believe you may have a claim, we will schedule an appointment for you to come in to meet with us. These appointments usually range from about 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the complexity of the case.

If you do not make it past the initial screening, we by in no way mean to degrade or detract from your injury. Unfortunately, there are some situations where there may be a significant injury, but no remedy under the law. Just because we don’t take your claim, however, doesn’t mean you don’t have one. We always recommend that if we don’t take your claim to keep trying other personal injury lawyers, because someone may take a different approach to your case.

Typically, personal injury cases are taken on what’s called a “contingency fee.” This means that the attorney takes a percentage of any recovery. In most cases, the personal injury attorneys will front the costs of the case (filing fees, deposition transcripts, court reporters, etc.). Any costs that arise during the litigation will be reimbursed to them from any recovery. However, if there is no recovery, we don’t get paid and you will not owe us for those costs. Our fees are competitive and in line with those in the area. If you would like a free, no obligation case evaluation, please contact us today.