Their Adjuster is NOT Your Friend! They are there to help...everyone but you.

Car accidents are the WORST! There you are, going about your day, minding your own business, and WHAM! If you're lucky, just that day is ruined. If you've had a more significant accident, many days to come are ruined.

One of the earliest questions you'll have to ask yourself is....."What do I do now???"

The FIRST person who will try to "help" you is the Insurance Adjuster for the AT-FAULT driver. (Not to be confused with your own adjuster on your policy)

The Adjuster will:

(1) Try to get you on record finding out what happened. I recommend waiting a few days before granting this interview. Just tell them you are too overwhelmed to do it right away and give them a time and date to call you back. It will give you the opportunity to write down everything you remember and be prepared. And that extra time often reveals additional symptoms that might not be obvious within the first day or two of the accident.

(2) Try to get you to go to THEIR auto-body shop. These shops are contracted with the At-Fault insurance company. They will charge rock-bottom prices. This is done because, if your repair bills are low, it tanks any potential for suing the insurance company.

(3) Similarly, they will tell you to send all Chiropractic (and medical) Bills directly to THEM. This sounds reasonable. And it sounds re-assuring. You think "Wonderful, they've told me they are going to pay everything." But the reality is, once they've received all the billing, they will only offer 20-40% of the billed amounts. Telling you this is the Maximum they can give you for the case. They have you RIGHT where they want you.

I don't want this entire article to make you think the At-Fault Adjuster are "evil" people. They serve a specific function, to be the "front-facing" representative of the insurance company. The insurance companies build their entire system so that the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

So the Adjuster isn't "evil". But they certainly aren't your friend.