- They can give inaccurate descriptions of how the accident occurred;
- They can say things that a defense lawyer will later be able to use to undermine their credibility;
- They can be imprecise about verifiable facts such as time, distance, or speed;
- They can fail to recall important parts of their medical history;
- They can minimize the extent of their injuries (make things sound better than they are);
- They can exaggerate the extent of their injuries; and
- Any number of other ways where the things that they say can come back to bite them later.
How Recorded Statements Can Doom Your Case
When you try to handle your car accident case on your own, one of the things that the adjuster from the insurance company will press you for is to give them a recorded interview.
You are not required to give one. There is not legal requirement that you do so in order for the insurance company to make you a settlement offer, despite anything that the adjuster says to the contrary.
We almost never permit our clients to give a recorded statement before suit is filed, and on those very rare occasions that we do, we make sure that the client is extensively prepared for the interview both in terms of what kinds of questions they can expect will be asked and how they should go about responding.
There are a number of ways that clients can end up damaging their case: