A potential pitfall for Seattle car accident injury victims is when it comes to talking to the other insurance company and giving them too much information. While the truth will always come out, it is a good idea to not give them the opportunity to spin your words into something that is untrue or misleading.

At the outset of a Seattle personal injury case, the other insurance company will ask for you to give a recorded statement. This may seem harmless but it is ripe with danger. The insurance adjuster is trained in asking questions that may be misleading or lead to inaccurate information.

Some of these questions can include talking about your medical history and your current symptoms. The insurance adjuster loves talking about prior injuries and trying to relate those injuries to the current car accident injury case. If you had prior injuries, they will ask if the injuries seem like the same injuries you suffered in this car accident and if they were present before this car accident. This could lead you into a hole that may be hard to get out of.

Additionally, insurance adjusters will try to ask you about your current injuries. They may try to downplay your injuries on the phone and ask you how you know you are that hurt. They may ask you how you are feeling right now and you may say fine. However, they will not ask you about how you felt last night or when you were driving in your car. Moreover, many injuries manifest themselves over a period of days after the car accident. The sooner they talk to you and get a recorded statement, the harder it is for you to say all of a sudden you are injured and need all this care.

They will and can use the recorded statement in court as a prior inconsistent statement or to show that you were not hurt. If all of a sudden you are hurt but during the recorded interview you said you were fine, the jury may look down on you as untrustworthy or lying about your injuries and the severity of them.

Additionally, the recorded statement may have to do with how the car accident happened. If the car accident happened because of anything but a rear end car accident, they may try to put words in your mouth like you ran the red light or you ran the stop sign. They could say that you saw my client right? So why did you continue if you saw them. They didn’t see you. Even if you didn’t see them or you had no time to stop. They can easily put words into your mouth on how the car accident happened and potentially make it your fault if there are no independent witnesses to say otherwise.

If you have been injured in a car accident, you need a Seattle car accident injury lawyer to represent you before you talk to the insurance company. You don’t need to make a statement to the defendant’s insurance company but you may need to give one to your insurance company. Make sure you have a lawyer representing you before you give any statements to anyone.