The insurance side of a crash is a negotiation that most people do not realise they have entered. The adjuster is professional, sympathetic and calling promptly — and is employed by a company whose interest is in closing the file for as little as possible. Both of those things are true at once.
TheGuru.info helps Houston drivers understand what their own policy covers, what the other driver's insurer is actually asking for, and what to do with a first offer.
The recorded statement
Within a day or two of the collision the other driver's insurer will usually ask for a recorded statement. It is framed as routine paperwork.
You are generally not obliged to give one to the other driver's insurer. Your own policy typically does require you to cooperate with your own insurer, which is a different thing.
What makes an early recorded statement risky is not dishonesty — it is timing. You give it before you know the full extent of your injuries, and "I'm okay, just sore" becomes a quotation in a file that is still open eight months later when your shoulder needs surgery. Questions about how fast you were going, how much you looked, and what you could have done are not idle.
Texas uses modified comparative fault: your recovery is reduced by your percentage of blame, and if your share exceeds 50% you recover nothing. A recorded statement is one of the places that percentage gets built.
Coverages worth knowing you have
Pull your declarations page. Three lines matter more than the rest:
- Personal Injury Protection. Texas insurers must offer at least $2,500 unless you rejected it in writing. It pays medical costs and a portion of lost wages regardless of fault, and plenty of people have it without knowing.
- Uninsured / underinsured motorist. This is what responds when the at-fault driver has no insurance or nowhere near enough. Given how many drivers on Houston roads are uninsured, this is frequently the coverage that actually pays.
- Collision and rental reimbursement. Your own collision coverage can repair the car now while fault is still being argued, and rental reimbursement decides whether you are driving next week.
The first offer
A first offer arrives early, often before treatment has finished, and is usually accompanied by a release. Signing it closes the claim permanently, including for injuries that turn out to be worse than they looked in week two.
An offer that seems reasonable against the bills you have received so far may not account for treatment still ahead, lost income, or the diminished value of a repaired vehicle. There is no obligation to accept a first number, and it is rarely the last one available.
What we do
We are not insurance adjusters and we do not settle claims. What we do is make sure you know what is on your own policy, what you are and are not required to provide, and — where the claim warrants it — connect you with an attorney who negotiates these for a living.
Free, at any hour, and with no obligation.