After a Crash, Should You Talk to the Other Driver’s Insurance Company?

One of the most common calls an injured person receives in the hours after a car accident in Hampton Roads is from the other driver’s insurance adjuster. It may feel like a routine conversation — a chance to tell your side of the story and move the process forward. In most cases, it is not. Understanding what that call is really for, and what you are not required to say, can protect your ability to recover the full compensation you are entitled to under Virginia law.

What the Other Driver’s Insurer Is Actually Doing

The other driver’s insurance company represents its insured’s interests, not yours. When an adjuster contacts you after a crash, they may ask questions about how the collision occurred, your injuries, and other circumstances related to the claim. Information provided during these conversations may later become relevant when the insurer evaluates liability and damages.

Statements made shortly after a crash can become important later in the claims process. For example, comments about injuries, road conditions, or how the collision occurred may be compared with medical records, police reports, witness statements, and other evidence when the insurer evaluates the claim.

Virginia’s Contributory Negligence Rule Makes This Especially Risky

Virginia’s contributory negligence rule can significantly affect auto accident claims. If an injured person’s own negligence contributed to causing a collision, it may affect their ability to recover compensation under Virginia law. Statements made about how a crash occurred may therefore become relevant when an insurer evaluates responsibility for the collision.

Because the circumstances surrounding a crash may still be unclear immediately afterward, injured people should be careful about providing incomplete or uncertain accounts of what happened before all available information has been reviewed.

What You Are and Are Not Required to Do

You are generally required to cooperate with your own insurance company under the terms of your policy. You are not required to give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer. You can politely decline and explain that you will have your attorney handle communications going forward — or, if you do not yet have an attorney, that you are not prepared to give a statement at this time.

This is not obstruction. It is a reasonable and entirely legal step that protects your rights while you get proper medical care, gather your thoughts, and understand what happened.

When to Involve an Attorney

Consulting with a personal injury attorney before speaking with any insurance company — including your own, in some circumstances — is one of the most protective steps you can take after a serious crash. An attorney can evaluate the facts, advise you on what to say and what not to say, handle communications with adjusters directly, and ensure that the full value of your claim is preserved from the very beginning.

If you were injured in a crash anywhere in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Hampton, Suffolk, Portsmouth, Newport News, or across Hampton Roads, Breit Law is here to help. With more than 47 years of trial experience, William Breit has fought for injured Virginians when insurers try to use their own words against them. Contact us today.

Map of the Hampton Roads region in Virginia, where statements made to an insurance company after a car accident may affect the claims process.