They Really Are On Your Side...

...as long as you're paying your premiums on time.  The moment you have to make a claim, though, you cease to become a valued customer.  Instead, there is a subtle and immediate shift to an 'us against them' stance.

The insurance claims representative assigned to 'help' you will appear to be friendly and concerned but, believe me, he or she is not.  Some people take that kindness at face value.  Probably the same people who would pet the nice little shark at Sea World, then wonder what happened to their hand.  In much the same way they will be wondering what happened to the benefits they paid for and are entitled to.

Because you know what?  You're no longer an asset to your insurance company.  Before your auto accident, you helped to pay their wages and contribute to their retirement funds.

Now you're a drain on their resources.  Profits stand to be lost.  So the only goal that solicitous rep has is to keep those losses to a minimum.  The more serious your injuries, the harder they will work to achieve that goal.  And that means you, my friend, are about to get screwed.

If you're injuries aren't bad, they probably won't waste their time hassling you.  At least not much.  But be careful what you say anyway.  Your claims rep is an expert at manipulating conversations in order to get you to say something they can later use against you.  The most innocent words can be twisted to incriminate you, no matter that you're the victim.  They don't care who was at fault.  If they can pin any blame on you, factual or not, they will.

The only thing that matters to them is the company's bottom line.  Anyone who is sucked in to believing their rep actually cares is making a grave error in judgment.

In your dealings with these people, there are two things that will help you.

First, don't say anything that isn't the absolute truth.  Don't exaggerate your symptoms or losses.  For one thing, lying brings with it the complication of trying to remember what you said later on.  They're taking meticulous notes, possibly even recording your conversations, so you won't get away with it.  


But if you are merely trying to fleece your insurance carrier, I guess you can say whatever you please.  In that case, though, you deserve everything they throw at you.  However, I think most people involved in auto accidents are like me.  All we want is for our lives to get back to normal, and we expect the help we paid for.  In good faith, trusting our carrier to make good on their promises.

The second thing is just a reiteration of what I said a couple of paragraphs back.   Always, always be truthful.  But always think very carefully before you speak.  Especially when answering their questions.  If you don't understand exactly what they're asking, then ask them to rephrase or explain it more clearly.  Like I said, they are masters at manipulating questions.  If you're not paying attention, you just might give them the answer they're looking for.

I'm going to give you a silly example of how a poorly thought out answer can incriminate you if you're not careful. 

"So, have you stopped beating your wife yet?"

The initial reaction would probably be, "No!"  Because most men don't beat their wives and would hate for anyone to think they do.  However, given the way the question was worded, saying no would mean they were still beating their wives.

On the other hand, if they thought about it for a split second, they might have picked up on 'have you stopped...'  and answer yes.  Of course that would make it sound as though they used to beat their wives.

The only correct response to that question, then, would be, "I've never beaten my wife."

So you can see how questions can be manipulated to get an initial gut reaction, although in my experience, claims reps are a bit more subtle than this.  In most cases anyway.

About a month after the accident, my claims rep tried to suggest, in a round about way, that I was faking my injuries.  Fortunately I was in too much pain, and exhausted from lack of sleep because of that pain, or my sarcastic tendencies could have landed me in a lot of hot water.  Instead I responded with some of the anger I was struggling with at the time (and still struggle with today).  I can't recall exactly how the conversation went but, at some point, I remember suggesting she hop in a car and let someone hit it at about 60 mph-then let me know how she was feeling.

So anyway, consider yourself warned.  The moment your accident occurred, your insurance carrier became the enemy.  Sounds a little dramatic, but once you've been dealing with it for awhile, you'll discover for yourself exactly how true that statement is.   

You are now on your own.  Prepare yourself for a battle that will only get worse the longer it takes you to recover.  They have a big bag of tricks, designed to add to your misery, and I'll share more on that later.