Insurance Company? Witnesses? Should You Talk to them?

After an auto or other accident (auto, malpractice, slip and fall–or any incident such as a breach of contract, sexual harassment incident, assault and battery, nursing home negligence and abuse or any incident you can possibly imagine), insurance companies will most likely be the first to contact you. Next, will be other individuals or entities–all trying to investigate and obtain information to build a defense against any potential claim you may have.

Whether you should talk to the insurance company (or any other person or entity) is basically a judgment call on your part; however, you should simply consult with an attorney first and ask the insurance company or other investigator that your attorney be present on a teleconference call to protect your rights. You generally have a duty to cooperate with your own insurance company under your policy.

And if another party’s insurance company contacts you, a witness or other investigator, you are generally not required to talk to at all–and should not without an attorney present. A third party’s insurance company or other investigator will most likely take down notes, or worse, record the conversation and then try to build a defense in your case or use every single word you say against you 6 months, 1 year, 2 years later in your case. In addition, defendant’s insurance companies will try to “push” low settlement offers–sometimes $500.00 or $1,000.00 when your medical bills could quickly escalate over those amounts after an accident.

As for witnesses or other investigators, you should absolutely consult with an attorney first. The attorney should be involved to take a witness statement if possible for preservation of thoughts and observations while they are fresh in everyone’s minds. Again, such statements can greatly impact your case and you should get all contact information from a witness immediately at the scene of an accident–the more telephone numbers, the better!

If you are unsure of who to speak with, simply pick up the phone and call us at 312-888-6058 (24/7/365–and we really mean that!) for two minutes. We can help and those two minutes could impact your case significantly.

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Berenz Law Network

Chicago injury attorney Phil Berenz has secured substantial settlements and verdicts for clients in personal injury, medical malpractice, and wrongful death cases. He has also successfully defended businesses and individuals against lawsuits, winning judgments that far exceeded the amounts plaintiffs originally sought.

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