I Slipped & Hurt Myself – Now Insurance Companies Are Calling Me
INSURANCE COMPANY ASKING FOR A RECORDED STATEMENT AFTER A SLIP & FALL INCIDENT
As the winter weather becomes more and more inclement, slip and fall injuries become more and more common. Icy and wintry conditions make roads and even flooring hazardous. A slip, trip or fall can lead to a serious injury. If you’ve incurred an injury from a slip, trip or fall while on another’s property (commercial or residential), you’ll likely receive a call from an insurance adjuster promptly. They’ll likely ask you for a recorded statement of your incident. It’s best not to speak with them at all. This is a red flag that you should instead contact a personal injury attorney right away. They are likely hoping they’ve reached you before you’ve reached out to an attorney. The insurance company calling you represents the property owner, and they recognize they may have a lawsuit against them since they must pay to compensate for any economic or non-economic losses relative to your injury (medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, etc.). If you’ve already retained a personal injury attorney to manage your slip and fall claim, refer any insurance companies that are reaching out straight to your attorney.
Why You Should Never Give A Recorded Statement
To put the situation in perspective, why would an insurance company need a recorded statement while they’re already on the phone with you? The answer is, they want a recorded statement to use against you should you bring a premises liability claim against them. You may recall more about the incident after you make a recorded statement. For instance, the property owner may have admitted fault, which could immensely help your case. But it cannot help your case if you failed to mention it in your recorded statement with the insurance company. They will say that you are lying and your claim may be denied.
Additionally, insurance adjusters are trained to ask “leading questions”. These types of biased questions are aimed at roping claimants into making statements that may hurt their case. Those not intimately knowledgeable about personal injury law likely won’t even realize that by answering some of these questions (even truthfully – ie., admitting to feeling tired and inattentive on the day of the incident), they could be damaging their claim entirely. This is why it’s crucial to have a personal injury attorney managing your claim and guiding you through the process.
The Personal Injury Attorneys At Palermo Law, P.L.L.C.
At Palermo Law, we know how serious a slip and fall injury can be. We stand up for our clients, making it our main priority to obtain them the financial compensation they are entitled to – for current/future medical bills, current/future lost wages, as well as the pain and suffering they’ve endured because of their accident and/or injury. Many times, these cases (even though a slip and fall accident may not seem serious) have great value. We’ve obtained settlements in the hundred-thousand-dollar range for victims of slip-and-fall accidents.