Dealing with a Personal Injury in Wyoming: Should You Give a Recorded Statement?

If you suffered an injury in an accident caused by another party, you will soon get a call from this party’s insurer. The company will try to get a recorded statement from you. Often, the interview with an insurance claims adjuster is scripted to make sure they collect information that protects the liable party in the courtroom. You may even be asked to read aloud legal words or requested to make a statement that favors the insurance company. However, before you give any statement to an insurance company, you must consult with a personal injury lawyer Wyoming first. Otherwise, you could compromise your opportunity to recover full compensation for the damages and injuries you sustained. 

Reasons Insurance Companies Request Recorded Statements

When an insurance company contacts you after the accident, it wishes to hear your descriptions of how the accident happened and what occurred right after your injury. It may use some tactics to collect evidence against you while they talk to you. These include leading you to make damaging statements that make you partially or fully at fault for the accident. 

Why You Must Not Give a Recorded Statement

The law does not require you to provide a recorded or written statement to the insurance company of the negligent party. While you may feel that giving a statement demonstrates your innocence, any wrong information you may provide may work against your interest.  The insurance company will misconstrue your words in different ways such as the following:

• Finding inconsistencies. The insurer will compare various parts of your story to the statements you recorded. You and your injury attorney must go over your previous statements in detail. You need to ensure you make consistent statements. Any inconsistency will give the insurance company to challenge your claim.
• Challenging the seriousness of your personal injury. The insurer will decide whether you are a risk and the amount to offer you. They may ask you about the seriousness of your injury, the exact location of your body you feel the pain, and/or which parts got hit during the accident. Your answers may be used by the company against you.  

Following an accident, you may deal with physical pain. To get properly compensated for your ordeal, you must not provide the insurance company with an official recorded statement. The company will use tactics on you while you are in shock and hurting. Allowing the company to get through will result in reduced compensation or no compensation at all.