Insurance Company Tricks And Traps

Having a serious injury from an auto collision can turn your life upside down.  You’re in pain. You can’t work.  The doctors don’t know when or if you will ever be back to how you were before your injuries.

You don’t know how you will pay next month’s bills and now you face growing expenses for current and future medical care.  And what makes this all so much worse…all of this is on your plate because of an auto collision you didn’t cause. It is impossible not to feel frustrated, worried, and confused when this happens to you.

Now here is an unpleasant truth.

Insurance companies who are supposed to be there “like a good neighbor’ and “on your side” are just the opposite.

These companies are for profit businesses and the way they stay profitable is to limit their liability.

Insurance company adjusters are not your friends.

The insurance adjuster working for your insurance company knows how you feel.  They know you are in pain and worried about your future.

And they will gladly take advantage of your vulnerable state.

An insurance adjuster is a highly skilled professional. Often, adjusters are lawyers.

They are master manipulators trained in conversation and on how to expertly lead you into saying something that may be detrimental to your case.

You will get a call a couple days after your accident, maybe while still in the hospital. The adjuster on the other line will come across like a concerned friend – acting as if they are happy to lend a sympathetic ear (while recording every word you say).

Their goal is to keep you talking until you say something that will let them flat out deny or seriously undervalue your claim.

If they realize they will have to pay, their next tactic is to offer you a fast cash settlement offer. This offer often comes quick, sometimes within days after the accident.

This offer may even sound generous on the surface. But don’t let yourself be fooled. This is the adjuster’s way of limiting their company’s liability.

If you accept a fast cash settlement (and sign a release of future liability) you cannot later go back and get more, or “open” your case – by accepting their offer, you put your own recovery at risk.

With no knowledge of how long it takes for a back, neck, hip, or knee injury to resolve, and no knowledge of how an apparent small injury can morph into a terrible problem, an injured person cannot know if a settlement made by an insurance company is in good faith, fair or reasonable.

If you’ve been badly injured due because of someone else, someone who was not paying attention or was reckless, don’t let an insurance adjuster bully or trick you and deny you the medical care you need and the fair compensation you deserve for your injuries and loss.

If you have any questions or concerns, or if you are reading this after having been involved in an accident, please reach out to my office 703-854-9288 or 301-298-8383.

We are happy to answer your questions and help in every way we can.

Please be safe, and NEVER text while driving!

Attorney Paul Samakow