The insurance adjuster wants to take a recorded statement from you, the victim of a Kentucky car accident. You have been injured through no fault of your own. You are hurting. All you want is to go to the doctor, have your medical bills paid and to get your car fixed. Now the insurance company wants to take your statement and grill you like a suspect in a television crime show. You didn’t do anything wrong.

 Kentucky automobile accident victims come into my office and tell me that they have been called by the insurance adjuster. Most accident victims give a statement because they feel that they have to.  This is not the case.  You do not have to talk to the insurance adjuster from the at-fault insurance company if you don’t want to. In most circumstances it is advisable not to speak with them until you have spoken to an experienced personal injury attorney. You have the right to refuse.

Insurance adjusters take statements on an almost daily basis. They have an agenda or purpose behind what they are doing.  They are not trying to find out exactly what happened in the case, although that is part of the purpose. They are also trying to get information from you they can later use to defeat your car accident claim. The insurance company is trying to limit the amount that they are going to have to pay you for your injury claim. 

Eventually in most situations you will give a statement to the insurance company. You should do it only after you have been prepared by your attorney. This will help to put you on a level playing field with the insurance adjuster. Once you know what your rights are and what the insurance company’s agenda is for this statement you will be better equipped to protect your rights. You will be able to give a statement that will be beneficial to your Kentucky accident claim.

Wait to give your statement. There is no rush. Make sure that you’re not on pain medications Make sure that you’re not still recovering from injuries. You should not be in extreme pain when you give a statement.  You don’t want to give a statement right after an accident when your adrenaline is still high and you don’t know exactly what your injuries are.  Wait; time is not of the essence as the insurance adjuster makes you feel. Give yourself a chance to recover and be educated so that you know what the statement is really about. By doing this it is less likely that you will say anything that will damage your accident case.

            Without evidence you will not be successful in pursuing your Kentucky accident claim. Whether it is a car accident, a truck accident, a bicycle accident or a wrongful death case you must be able to prove what happened. I know this is a harsh statement to start this article off with but it is the truth.  Without witnesses, pictures, medical proof and other documented evidence you are not going to be successful in prosecuting your Kentucky accident claim.  I use the word prosecuting because as an accident victim you are in a position of being required to prove your claim to the insurance company. Yes, much as a prosecutor does in a criminal case when he is arguing for a conviction. 

In the past few weeks I have had numerous clients come into my office who have been injured in auto accidents.  The facts have been somewhat strange and bizarre. They include:

·        Hitting parked cars

·        Cars illegally parked

·        Cars in front going into reverse and backing up for seemingly no reason. 

·        Buses swerving over the center line

You might think that this is a no?brainer. How could anyone not believe these people?  Isn’t it easy to show whose fault these accidents are? This is not always the case.  You never know what the other side is going to say, what reasoning they’re going to give or what they’re going to say about you. Believe it or not they may not tell the truth.  I have had to decline representing people in the last few weeks because:

• There were no photos to prove the position of the vehicles at the time of the accident.
• There were no independent witnesses to verify my potential client’s story.
• The police investigation was inadequate.  There were no diagrams or measurements made as to the positioning of the vehicles. 
• There was not immediate medical treatment.

Immediately following an accident the adrenaline is flowing.  Your brain is foggy.  You’re almost on auto pilot.  You are not concentrating on what is necessary to prove your case. You have no idea that any of this will be an issue. This is the furthest thing from your mind. Over the next several months you may find that without these items it is impossible to prove your case. The insurance adjuster may not be as friendly when you are finally asking to be compensated for what you have been through.  

You need to make sure you protect yourself by:

·        Obtain the names of witnesses to the accident.

·        Take pictures of the damage to BOTH vehicles. 

·        Document the position of the vehicles with photos.  You can do this with your cell phone or a camera in your pocket. You can use a sketch pad. But get the information!

This is just at the accident scene.

            I was speaking to an insurance adjuster today about a client’s claim. We will call her Sarah.  A witness that was in a yard next to where the accident happened had given a statement to the police. This witness claims that Sarah struck the car in front of her before she was rear ended.  The impact from behind was definitely more severe and we will be able to collect on the claim.  However, the adjuster wants to deduct for Sarah’s contributory negligence. He is arguing that Sarah is partly to blame for her injuries, based on the witness statement.  This may in fact occur. It is a jury issue. But Sarah has a fighting chance. She was on the ball enough to get the names of two independent witnesses who were not listed on the police accident report. They were on the front porch of the house next to where the accident happened. They observed the accident and can verify that Sarah did not run into the car in front of her until she was propelled into that car by the rear impact.

Sometimes this is just luck but having the awareness to document the evidence can save your Kentucky accident claim.  We have a fighting chance to prove that Sarah is right.

The insurance company is looking for any reason they can to:

·        Deny your claim

·        Defeat you claim

·        Lower the amount of money they are going to have to pay out on your claim. 

This is their job.  This is why they make the money they do. That is why insurance companies are profitable. That is why they have the lobbyists in Frankfort arguing their position. 

Protect your Kentucky accident case by documenting and documenting and documenting from the time you’re in an accident to the time you have finished treating and finally settle your claim. You must document.  By doing this your Kentucky bicycle accident case will be successful! Your Kentucky motorcycle case will be successful! Your Kentucky truck accident case will be successful!  Do not get caught into the trap and think that somebody else will do it for you.  Take matters into your own hands so that you can successfully prosecute your claim.

      Facebook, Twitter, My Space and other social networking sites are becoming more and more popular not only with kids but with all age groups.  You may have read about employers using these sites to help screen job applicants or to check up on their employees.  There are recent cases where jury verdicts have been over turned because jurors had made updates on their social networking site during the trial.  Everyone is on Facebook. Everyone is tweeting.

      Guess what? These sites are not just for fun and keeping up with friends.  Insurance companies and their attorneys are using these sites too.  Adjusters are checking Facebook, Twitter, etc. and looking at blogs to get information about the accident victim.  There may be valuable information about you on these sites that could severely damage your Kentucky auto accident case.

      The insurance adjusters’ job is to pay you as little as they possibly can on your injury claim. Social media sites and blogs can help them accomplish their objective.  You voluntarily put all of your personal information on these sites.  You load personal photos on these sites.  Friends make comments about you. You put videos on YouTube.  Internet surveillance may be the only investigation the insurance company has to do.

      Why are insurance companies looking at social media sites?

·          To confirm or disprove the severity of your injury.

·          To confirm or disprove your ability to perform activities and sports.

·          To confirm or disprove your ability to work.

·          To confirm or disprove whether you interact normally with friends and family.

      Pictures, videos, personal information, posts and comments can wreck your case.  When you become an accident victim, you begin living in a glass house.  You MUST be aware of how your pictures and comments will be viewed.  Sometimes even the most innocent and seemingly irrelevant things can be twisted to make it look as if you were not injured or that you are lying about being injured.  Just look at what happened to Michael Phelps.

      Even making the pages private may not stop the insurance company from seeing it.  You may inadvertently make a friend or follower out of someone the adjuster knows.  You make a friend or follower out of the law clerk of the attorney that represents the insurance company.  If your case goes to Court, the Judge may order you to produce your social media page.

I know you are not going to quit using these sites, but here are some tips in dealing with your social media pages:

• Don’t post anything you wouldn’t feel comfortable having the insurance adjuster read.

Be Careful!

• Check your privacy settings and block anyone you do not know from viewing your personal pages.

• Search your name on all sites that you are a member of and on Google to see what comes up.  See what photos you have been tagged in and take the appropriate action to remove photos you are not comfortable with.

• Do not accept any friend requests or answer any e-mails from people you don’t know.

THE BOTTOM LINE…USE COMMON SENSE AND PROTECT YOURSELF AS YOU USE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA SITES.   They are fun and they are addictive, but they can be used against you in many different ways.