Being Kind Without Guessing
This page is not advice to be cold or evasive. Check on people, be civil, cooperate fully. The distinction worth drawing is between being decent and volunteering conclusions about facts you do not yet have.
The apology problem
Most people say sorry reflexively. In the moment it means this is awful and I hope you are all right. Repeated back weeks later by an adjuster it can be presented as an admission. You can express concern without assigning blame: are you okay, do you need me to call someone does the human work without the legal side effect.
Things not to say
- "It was my fault." You do not yet know. Fault depends on right of way, signals, speed, visibility and sometimes on what the other driver was doing that you could not see.
- "I did not see you." True, unhelpful, and easily recast.
- "I am fine." Adrenaline is a painkiller. Say you are not sure and will get checked. Neck, back and head injuries commonly announce themselves the next morning.
- "Let us keep insurance out of it." An informal arrangement collapses the moment the repair is bigger than expected or an injury appears, and by then you have lost time and evidence.
- Guesses about speed or distance. "About thirty" becomes a fact in a file. If you do not know, say you do not know.
Say this instead
Facts you are certain of, and nothing more. What lane you were in, what direction you were traveling, what the signal was doing if you clearly saw it. If you are unsure of something, the correct and complete answer is that you are not sure.
The same rule applies afterward
To adjusters, to the other driver's insurer, and above all online. Do not post about the crash, your injuries or your recovery. Claims investigators look, and a photograph of you at a barbecue three days later can be used to argue about an injury it says nothing real about. Ask friends not to tag you either.
Cooperate, but do not speculate
Your own policy obliges you to cooperate with your insurer's investigation, and you should. Cooperation means giving the facts accurately and promptly. It does not mean constructing theories to fill silence.
A policy review is easier before all this, and it takes about two minutes.
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Is apologizing legally an admission?
It is not automatically decisive, and it can absolutely be used as evidence of an admission. Express concern for the person without stating a conclusion about the cause.
Should I tell the other driver's adjuster nothing at all?
Not nothing. Give the basic facts, and you are generally not obliged to give a recorded statement to the other side. Cooperate fully with your own insurer, which your policy requires.
What if I genuinely was at fault?
Be honest with your own insurer, which is what the policy requires. Determining fault is their job and it involves information you may not have. Do not argue against yourself at the scene.