Articles

Should you allow a pre-suit statement to be taken of your client? 

By:  Joseph L. Vaccaro, CCLA
Sr. Paralegal / Insurance Specialist

Many insurance adjusters will request that they be allowed to take a statement of your client.  If you do not have a problem with the insurance adjuster taking a statement from your client and don’t really care that later on your client’s deposition might be taken should a lawsuit become necessary, then allow the insurance adjuster to take your client’s statement but under condition that the statement cannot be used as evidence in the event suit becomes necessary. However, do not agree before having the adjuster provide you with a written agreement signed by his insured defendant also agreeing to this condition or you may find out later on that you didn’t get the protection you wanted.

If you have a strict policy of not allowing adjusters taking statements of your clients, you might need to re-examine that policy under certain circumstances.  If the adjuster is truly just looking for information from your client because he has no where else to go to get information about how the accident happened, there could be several compromise positions to consider.  One is to allow the adjuster to secure the information by simply having an informal meeting with you and your client (no recordings allowed!).  Keep in mind that this will also give you information because you can determine what direction the insurance company is taking and what they are thinking about.  By listening carefully to the questions that the adjuster is asking, you are going to learn a lot.

Sometimes, carriers through their adjusters will send letters that insist on taking statement of your client or they simply will not do anything about settling the claim. Most of the times, these requests are unreasonable and a way to deal with them is to send the adjuster a letter that says the following:  “…we will be happy to cooperate with you and allow you to take a statement of our client as long as you and your insured agree to do so by following the Rules of Civil Procedure.  This means one statement, you won’t get another and you won’t get to take my client’s deposition (other than an update depo) later on should suit be necessary. By the way, since we are willing to cooperate with you, we’d like you to also cooperate with us by making your insured defendant available for us to take a statement from him…” 

One of two things will happen when such a letter hits the adjuster’s desk.  One, you are never going to hear from the adjuster again about this problem. Two, the adjuster is going to take you up on your offer. If so you are in no worse position then you were before because if you file suit, they are going to get your client’s deposition anyway. Keep in mind that there are situations where the adjuster has a valid reason for needing the information from your client and it pays to reach some type of middle ground in those situations.  For example, if your first notice letter to the insurance company is a year or two after the accident and it is the first time the insurance company has been made aware of the accident because their insured went out of business a month after your client got hurt and their is no one else around to give them any facts about what really happened, you should seriously consider allowing the adjuster to meet with your client to at least get information. More often than not, in these situations where you have facts that suggest decent liability, the adjuster may just want to settle that claim once he can get confirmation of the facts.

The only sure way you are going to find out what it is really motivating the adjuster is to talk to them.  Many times, adjusters routinely ask for a statement from your client just because that is part of their protocol and they get “extra points” from their supervisor when they get statements from represented claimants.  Adjusters already know that you are not likely to allow them to get a statement from your client, but they will ask anyway because they are required to do so by their employer. 

However, keep in mind those situations where it is advantageous to have the insurance adjuster see your client. More often than not, in situations where it is warranted, accommodating the adjuster’s request will pay off with a decent settlement for your client without necessitating the filing of a lawsuit.