Should You Sign an Auto Insurance Form After a Car Accident?

This video features J.D. Smith, a Personal Injury attorney based in Washington.

Attorney JD Smith | 888-981-0015 | Free Consult

Should you sign an auto insurance form after a car accident? If you’ve been in a car crash, the insurance company may pressure you to sign a form, but is it the right move?

This Quick Question features JD Smith, a personal injury attorney in Seattle with the Law Office of JD Smith, PLLC. He has been a Super Lawyer from 2007 to 2019, and he was the recipient of the Professionalism Award from the Washington State Association of Justice.

Before JD Smith became an attorney for victims of car accidents, he worked as a claims rep for a large insurance company. Since he has experience defending the insurance company, this gives him a strong advantage because he’s familiar with both sides of these claims.

To learn more, contact the attorney directly by calling 888-981-0015 or by submitting a contact form on this page. The consultation is free and confidential, and you owe no out-of-pocket attorney fees.

Even if you don’t intend to hire an attorney, seek legal counsel before signing anything from an insurance company.

Most attorneys that handle car accident cases offer free consultations and work on a contingency fee basis. This means that if you have any questions regarding your accident or dealing with an insurance company afterward, you can call or email them to ask for free, expert advice on the matter.

Insurance policy language can be difficult to decipher and may contain hidden terms that create unintentional tax consequences or attempt to disqualify you from receiving compensation. After you have signed a document, there isn’t much an attorney can do to try and correct the situation. This is why it is important to consult an attorney before signing anything or agreeing to give a statement.

Insurance companies make money by reducing and denying as many valid claims as possible.

Whenever you find yourself dealing with an insurance company it is important to remember that their primary objective as a business is to hang onto as much of their client’s monthly insurance premiums as possible. This means insurance adjusters may try to avoid paying a valid claim. There are many ways an insurance adjuster may attempt to do this, and all of them are referred to as insurance bad faith. A car accident attorney will have experience dealing with unscrupulous insurance companies and know how to defend their clients against complex attempts to trick someone out of pursuing or receiving the compensation they are legally entitled to.

Be careful of what you say.

It is important to note that anything you say or write to an insurance company can be used against you later. The safest thing someone can do after being involved in an accident is to take down the contact information of the parties involved, including that of the relevant insurance providers, and simply let them know their attorney will be in touch. Even if the injured party has not yet found an attorney, this is still a viable means of protecting themself and their family from further financial harm at the hands of callous insurance companies. In the meantime, it is important to refrain from discussing the situation with anyone inside or outside the situation; this includes refraining from discussing the incident on social media, with friends and coworkers, and especially with an insurance provider—yours or otherwise.

To learn more, contact JD Smith directly by calling 888-981-0015 or by submitting a contact form on this page. The consultation is free and confidential, and you owe no out-of-pocket attorney fees.

Video Transcript:

Rob Rosenthal:

If you're injured in an auto collision and the insurance company sends you a form to sign, should you sign it? We ask Seattle area attorney JD Smith for this AskTheLawyers.com™ Quick Question.

JD Smith:

I think you should always consult a lawyer because again, even if you don't hire the lawyer, you may be able to receive some advice. What we see sometimes in these releases or terms that may create an unintentional tax consequences, like if it mentions confidentiality or non-disparagement clauses. So it's very important that you receive some legal advice instead of just signing the form.

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