Dealing With Insurance Adjusters: 11 Tactics and How to Respond
The tactics adjusters use to reduce injury settlements, what you are and are not required to give them, and the scripts that protect your claim.
Table of Contents (17 sections)
The claims adjuster who calls you two days after your accident will be friendly, sympathetic and helpful. That is not a criticism — it is the job. But the role is worth understanding precisely: an adjuster is employed to resolve claims for as little as the file supports, and their performance is measured accordingly.
Nothing about that is improper. It does mean the person asking about your injuries has an interest opposed to yours, and that the conversation is being documented.
Quick answer: You must cooperate with your own insurer under your policy. You owe the other side’s insurer nothing — no recorded statement, no blanket medical authorization, no explanation of your injuries. Be polite, be brief, verify everything in writing.
The 11 Tactics, and the Response to Each
1. The very early call
What happens: A call within 24–72 hours, before you have seen a doctor or know your diagnosis.
Why: Anything you say now is locked into the file. “I’m okay, just sore” becomes evidence of minor injury.
Response: Confirm the basic facts — date, location, vehicles — and stop. “I’m still being evaluated by my doctors. I’m not able to discuss my injuries yet.”
2. The recorded statement request
What happens: A request to record “just for our file.”
Why: A recorded statement creates permanent, quotable answers, taken before you know the medical picture and before you have thought about the questions.
Response: You may decline outright to a third-party insurer. “I’m not comfortable giving a recorded statement at this time.” If your own policy requires cooperation, you can still schedule it for later and prepare first.
3. The blanket medical authorization
What happens: A form authorizing release of “any and all” medical records.
Why: It is a search for pre-existing conditions and unrelated history to reframe your injury as something you already had.
Response: Do not sign a general authorization. Provide records related to accident treatment specifically.
4. The quick settlement offer
What happens: A modest offer while you are still treating, sometimes framed as a limited-time gesture.
Why: A release is final. Once signed, subsequent surgery is your expense.
Response: Decline until you reach maximum medical improvement. There is no such thing as an offer that expires because you needed medical care.
5. “You don’t need a lawyer”
What happens: A suggestion that hiring counsel only reduces your net recovery.
Why: Represented claimants are more expensive and slower for an insurer to resolve, which is reason enough for the opposing party to discourage it.
Response: Treat advice about your own interests from the opposing party as what it is. But don’t accept the mirror-image claim either — the widely repeated statistic that represented claimants recover several times more compares gross settlements without controlling for injury severity, and the Insurance Research Council research it comes from found the advantage largely disappears once severity, medical expenses and fees are accounted for. Representation is a situational decision: our do I need a lawyer? checklist weighs the factors that genuinely matter, and lawyer fees explained covers what a contingency agreement actually costs. Free consultations exist precisely so this decision can be informed.
6. Delay and silence
What happens: Unreturned calls, repeated requests for documents already sent, adjuster reassignment.
Why: Financial pressure produces acceptance. Waiting is cheaper for them than for you.
Response: Move to written communication only. Log every contact with dates. Escalate to a supervisor in writing, and be aware most states have insurance regulations setting acknowledgment and response deadlines — a complaint to the state insurance department is a real remedy.
7. Disputing medical treatment as excessive
What happens: Certain treatment is characterized as unnecessary, excessive, or “unrelated.”
Why: Reducing recognized medical specials reduces both economic damages and the multiplier base — see how insurance companies calculate settlements for why shaving the specials shrinks the non-economic side too.
Response: Your treating physician’s judgment is the answer. Ask them to document medical necessity and the causal relationship in the chart.
8. Weaponizing pre-existing conditions
What happens: Old imaging or prior treatment is used to argue the injury predates the crash.
Why: Causation is the cheapest defense there is.
Response: In most states, aggravation of a pre-existing condition is compensable. What makes it stick is a physician documenting the change from your pre-accident baseline. This fight is most acute in herniated disc, shoulder and knee claims, where degenerative findings appear on most adult imaging regardless of the crash. The same fight shows up in an even harder form when the “prior condition” is itself a still-open claim from an earlier accident — see our guide to a second accident during a pending injury claim for how that variant plays out.
9. Treatment gaps
What happens: Any break in care is characterized as recovery.
Why: It is the single most effective argument for discounting an otherwise solid claim.
Response: Do not miss appointments. If you must, have the reason recorded in the chart.
10. Social media and surveillance
What happens: Public posts are reviewed; in higher-value claims, surveillance may be conducted.
Why: One photograph of you carrying groceries can be presented as contradicting claimed limitations.
Response: Post nothing while the claim is open, restrict privacy settings, and ask family not to tag you. Live within your documented restrictions.
11. The anchored first offer
What happens: An opening number far below documented value, sometimes below your medical bills.
Why: Anchoring. Negotiations move relative to the first number on the table.
Response: Never accept a first offer. Respond in writing with an itemized demand: medical specials, wage loss, out-of-pocket costs and a documented basis for non-economic damages. Our demand letter generator produces that structure as a starting draft, and the demand letter guide explains what each section has to do.
What You Owe Whom
| Your own insurer | The other party’s insurer | |
|---|---|---|
| Report the accident | Yes, promptly | No |
| Cooperate generally | Yes, under the policy | No |
| Recorded statement | Often required, can be scheduled | No obligation |
| Medical records | Related records | Not blanket authorization |
| Examination under oath | Possibly, under the policy | No |
| Discuss fault | Facts only | Nothing beyond basic facts |
Communication Rules That Protect You
- Written over verbal. Email creates a record neither side can re-characterize.
- Facts, not conclusions. Date, time, location, vehicles, and where you sought treatment. Not speed estimates, not fault theories, not injury severity.
- “I don’t know” is a complete answer. Guessing produces the inconsistency that gets quoted back later.
- Never say “I’m fine.” Say “I’m under medical care and still being evaluated.”
- Do not apologize. Ordinary politeness is routinely recorded as an admission.
- Take notes on every call: date, name, and what was said.
- Confirm anything important by email the same day.
- Never sign a release without understanding that it permanently closes the claim.
When to Hand It Over
Handling a minor claim yourself is reasonable. Get an attorney involved when: liability is disputed; injuries required surgery or specialist care; symptoms persist past a few months; the offer is below your documented medical bills; multiple parties or policies are involved; a government entity is involved (short deadlines); or the adjuster becomes evasive as your deadline approaches.
Contingency fees are typically 33%–40% with free consultations, so the assessment itself carries no cost.
Some of this plays out differently by insurer. See our guide on dealing with GEICO after an accident for what’s actually confirmed about one major carrier’s claims process and claims-evaluation software.
Sources & Further Reading
- NAIC Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act (Model #900), adopted in its current freestanding form in June 1990, and the companion Unfair Property/Casualty Claims Settlement Practices Model Regulation (#902). Most states have adopted some version; your own state’s enacted text is what actually governs the deadlines.
- State insurance department complaint procedures; NAIC Consumer Information Source for the company complaint index
- Insurance Research Council, Attorney Involvement in Auto Injury Claims (2014) — insurer-funded; its severity-controlled findings differ substantially from the gross-settlement multiples commonly quoted from it
- 18 U.S.C. § 2511, part of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act — sets a one-party-consent federal baseline for recording a call, with states free to require all-party consent. Roughly a dozen states impose an all-party rule, and several draw distinctions between in-person and telephone conversations. On an interstate call, follow the stricter state’s rule.
- Tactic 10 above has its own dedicated guide: see social media and surveillance in an injury claim for what is actually discoverable, why deleting posts can be spoliation, and where surveillance crosses the line.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to give the other driver's insurance company a recorded statement?
No. You have no obligation to give a recorded statement to another party's insurer. You generally do have a duty to cooperate with your own insurer under your policy. Even then, you can decline to be recorded until you have prepared or consulted an attorney.
Should I sign a medical authorization for the insurance company?
Not a blanket one. Broad authorizations let an insurer pull your entire medical history looking for pre-existing conditions to blame. Provide records relevant to the accident-related treatment instead, ideally through counsel.
Why did the adjuster offer me money so quickly?
Because early offers are cheap. Before your treatment is complete, no one knows what the claim is worth — and a signed release closes it permanently. Fast offers are priced on the assumption you do not yet know the extent of your injuries.
Is the adjuster allowed to record our call without telling me?
Recording laws vary by state — some require all parties to consent, others only one. In practice, assume every call may be recorded and speak accordingly: factual, brief and consistent.
What should I never say to an insurance adjuster?
Avoid 'I'm fine' or 'I'm not hurt' (symptoms often emerge later), speculation about fault or speed, guesses about anything, apologies, and any characterization of your injuries as minor. Stick to verifiable facts and defer anything you do not know.
Can I negotiate with an adjuster myself?
Yes, and for small property or minor injury claims it often makes sense. The calculus changes with disputed liability, ongoing treatment, surgery, or offers far below documented bills — those are the situations where representation typically pays for itself.
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About the Author
InjuryClaimHub Editorial Team
Research & Editorial
The InjuryClaimHub editorial team researches and writes plain-English guides to personal injury and accident claims. Every guide is built from primary sources — statutes, federal regulations, court rules and government data — and cites them so readers can verify the law themselves. We are not attorneys and our guides are not reviewed by one, which is why every guide tells you to confirm deadlines and figures with a licensed attorney in your state.