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Dealing with Insurance Companies after a Truck Accident (Part A)

If you've been involved in a serious Illinois truck accident, you'll need to file a claim with your insurance company to obtain compensation for your damages. Most likely you are now facing lost wages, immediate or permanent disability, medical bills from the accident, and the potential for future medical needs.

An experienced Chicago truck accident lawyer will know the tricks that adjusters employ to help sway the claim in their favor. Hiring the legal expertise of one of these skilled attorneys is your best chance at obtaining a higher settlement with less hassle.

Your Insurance Claims Adjuster

When you file a claim for an Illinois truck accident with your insurance company, your claim will be assigned a trained insurance claims adjuster. While this person will most likely come across as sympathetic and caring about your injuries and hardships, they are still an employee of their company. Their duty is to make it as easy as possible for their company to justify denying your claim or offering an extremely low settlement.

Insurance companies did not go into business to hand out money to their clients or their Illinois truck accident victims. They will often employ tricks and tactics designed to get their claimants to damage their cases and allow them to justify denials or low settlements. Remember that an insurance claims adjuster's main goal is to decrease the amount of money their employer must pay out to your claim.

It is in your best interest to run all correspondence with your claims adjuster through a trusted Chicago truck accident lawyer. Before making any statements, releasing any information, or accepting any settlement, let your lawyer advise you as to your best course of action.

Giving Statements to Your Insurance Adjuster

You should never give any statement, written or oral, to anyone concerning your accident without first getting your lawyer's approval. Insurance claims adjusters are trained in coercing victims into making damaging remarks during recorded statements. They may prod you to give details about your injuries and lead you to make false statements about the severity of your medical needs.

In some cases, they attempt to get you to blame yourself for the Illinois truck accident, either by hurried questioning or slyly phrased questions intent on placing more blame on you than the other driver. There are many ways they manipulate conversations to try to either make you look like the driver most at fault, or to attempt to downplay the severity of your damage claims.

Continue reading to educate yourself regarding some of the other tactics insurance companies use to downplay your Illinois truck accident claim, including medical record releases and clauses in settlement letters.

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As a service to the residents of Chicago, Aurora, Rockford, and Illinois in general, the Law Offices of Barry G. Doyle, P.C. will frequently publish blogs about local traffic accidents. We do this to raise awareness about the common types of motor vehicle accidents that occur in Illinois and can result in serious injuries and/or fatalities.

Common accidents include, but are not limited to:

-- single-car accidents such as SUV rollovers;
-- accidents due to hazardous road conditions; and
-- accidents caused by distracted, aggressive, and/or drunk drivers.

If you have been named in this blog or you are the victim's family member or friend and would like the blog removed from our website, please feel free to contact us and we will promptly accommodate your request.