After being in a car or motor vehicle accident, you’re likely overwhelmed with a ton of information. Not only are you managing your injuries or the injuries of a loved one, you’re now inserted into a vastly bureaucratic and confusing system of liability, settlements, and court proceedings.
Injured in Oklahoma City? Call Warhawk Legal at (405) 397-1717 for a free consultation. Our personal injury attorneys work on contingency — you pay nothing unless we win your case.
You may be asked to speak with the other party’s insurance provider in that overwhelmed state. While on the surface, this action may seem harmless, nothing can undermine the viability of your case more than speaking with the opposing party’s insurance – and they know it!
In this guide, we’ll examine this answer in more detail, explaining why you shouldn’t speak to the other driver’s insurance after your accident and what you should do instead.
However, even if you already have spoken to the other party’s insurance, it isn’t the end of the world. If this describes your situation, our Oklahoma City auto accident lawyers can help. Call us at (405) 397-1717 or book your free, no-obligation case review and consultation online today. We’d be happy to discuss your case and see how we can help.
Why Is It A Bad Idea To Speak To The Other Driver’s Insurance?
We strongly recommend not speaking with an opposing party’s insurance. Here’s why.
Insurance companies might try to get you to accept fault for the accident.
An insurance adjuster for the other party involved in the accident is trying to mitigate the amount the company has to pay you. To do this, they’ll try to get you to accidentally take on partial responsibility for the accident.
Under Oklahoma’s modified comparative negligence doctrine, damages paid out are reduced proportionally to how at fault an individual was for the accident. If an individual is over 50 percent at fault for the accident, they are fully responsible. But if an insurance adjuster causes a victim to accidentally claim they were partially at fault for the accident, that reduces the amount that the victim can receive in damages – even if the other party was primarily at fault.
Insurance companies may try to pressure you into accepting a low settlement.
Another reason an insurance adjuster may call is to offer you a settlement. Typically, these first or second offers are insultingly low, and you should not accept them. Their goal is to pressure you into taking a subpar offer, which saves their company money.
Insurance companies may try to undermine your injuries, pain, and suffering.
Most insurance companies record their calls and will tell you they are doing so. Anything on that recording can be used as support for why they can pay you less. While it’s best to keep your answers limited and brief when speaking with insurance, it’s even better not to engage with them at all so you’re not open to that risk.
Defend Against Insurance Companies
When dealing with insurance companies after a car accident, having an Oklahoma City injury lawyer to consult is a critical advantage. A lawyer can work with all insurance companies involved in the case so you’re paid the compensation you’re rightly owed after your accident.
If you need a trusted Oklahoma City car accident attorney, call us today at (405) 397-1717 or book a case review online.
What to Do If You Already Spoke to the Other Driver’s Insurer
If you gave a recorded statement before consulting an attorney, do not panic — but do act immediately. Contact an attorney before making any further statements. Early recorded statements can be damaged but are rarely case-ending; what matters is preventing additional statements that compound the problem. Your attorney reviews what was said and develops a strategy to contextualize or counter anything that was mischaracterized. If you accepted a quick settlement and signed a release, that is harder to undo — releases are contracts, and courts rarely set them aside without evidence of fraud, duress, or a mutual mistake about the nature of the injuries. This is why speaking to an attorney before any contact with the opposing insurer is so important.
How to Report to Your Own Insurer Without Harming Your Claim
Reporting to your own insurance company is both required by your policy and generally safe — your insurer has a duty to you that the opposing insurer does not. Report the crash promptly, provide factual information about what happened, and request your own policy’s coverages (collision, MedPay, UM/UIM). Do not speculate about fault or injury severity, and decline to give a recorded statement to your own insurer until you have spoken to an attorney if the crash involves significant injuries. Your attorney coordinates all insurer communications going forward, ensuring that your own insurer’s MedPay or UM/UIM benefits are claimed while limiting exposure to damaging statements.
Frequently Asked Questions
The opposing insurer told me they recorded our phone call — is that legal in Oklahoma? Oklahoma is a one-party consent state for call recording, meaning a party to the call can record it without telling the other. The call was almost certainly recorded. Another reason to avoid all contact with opposing insurers after a significant crash.
Can the opposing insurer contact me directly after I hire an attorney? No. Once you are represented, Oklahoma’s Rules of Professional Conduct prohibit the opposing insurer’s attorneys and, by extension, their adjusters from communicating with you directly about the substance of the claim. They must go through your attorney.
What if the other driver’s insurer denies the claim outright? A denial is not final. Denials are appealed through the insurance company’s internal process, or the claim is pursued through litigation against the at-fault driver directly. Warhawk Legal handles both paths — call (405) 397-1717 for a free consultation.
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If you or a loved one has been injured, contact our experienced Oklahoma City personal injury attorney at Warhawk Legal. We offer free consultations and only get paid when you win.