If you have been involved in an auto accident and are even thinking about the services of a personal injury attorney in Tampa it is extremely important that you not communicate directly with the insurance company. It is, without doubt, best to wait and have your attorney contact the insurance company and deal directly with the adjusters. Many times accident victims often call the insurance company without recognizing the legal implications of giving a statement. Their good intentions and belief that the insurance company is going to help often works against them. The insurance companies record all of their calls, this allows them to use anything you say against you now or in the future; and the insurance company will.

As auto accident personal injury attorneys in Tampa, we run into this problem often. Despite our requests not to communicate with the insurance company directly there are times where our clients for one reason or another provide a statement to the carrier. It never works in the client’s favor and always works against them. Often the statement leads to a full, “investigation,” which is really a way to either delay or deny benefits.

Recently, one of our clients received a call from the insurance company asking her to answer “routine questions.” Instead of notifying our office right away, she continued to answer every question the carrier asked her regarding the claim. As a result, the insurance company withheld benefits and demanded an Examination under Oath, a very intrusive interview performed by the insurance company. Had she directed the insurance company to contact us and allowed us to answer all of the insurance company’s questions there would have likely been a different outcome.

It is always best to seek professional representation after an auto accident. If you are even considering legal representation, please remember not to speak to the insurance company yourself; no matter how much they attempt to contact you. Notify your attorney immediately when this occurs and have your attorney contact them instead of you. We see this happen to our clients and we hate to see their benefits compromised every single time. Let the attorney handle the insurance company, it’s our job.