After a California car crash, you may look to your insurance company to make you an offer that covers the cost of any injuries treated or automotive repairs needed. Yet, you may want to think twice before you accept your insurance company’s first offer.
Per the National Law Review, automotive insurance companies make money by charging consumers for insurance – not by paying out large claims. For this reason, the goal of your insurance agent is typically to make you go away while paying out as little money to you as possible. Your insurance company may try to use one of the following common tactics to try to reduce how much it must pay you after a car wreck.
Question liability
Expect your insurance company to try to argue that you contributed to the car crash in some way. It may do so believing that by questioning your right to any money, it might make the original offer it made you more appealing, making you more inclined to take the bait.
Question your injuries
Expect your insurance company to also delve a little deeper into your injuries, injury history and overall medical background. Could something in your past have contributed to or exacerbated your injuries? Was the treatment you underwent for them completely necessary or excessive? These are the types of questions your insurer may ask when you make a claim after a car crash.
Keep in mind that when you accept your insurance company’s first offer, in doing so, you surrender your right to seek more down the line.