Can Insurance Companies Follow Me After an Accident Claim?

After an accident, you deserve to be treated with empathy, respect, and professionalism. However, once you report the accident and the other party’s insurance provider hears about it, you may instead end up feeling like a criminal. Their insurance adjuster will have plenty of questions, many of which may imply that you are the person to blame for the accident or that you are faking your injuries. To add insult to injury, you may even find out that the insurance company is having you followed and investigated after a crash.

What do you do next? Make sure you have an attorney willing to fight aggressively on your behalf. Call Haygood, Cleveland, Pierce, Thompson & Short at 334-821-3892 to set up a consultation now.

Understanding the Insurance Company’s Goal After an Accident

You may assume that an insurance adjuster simply wants to get to the bottom of a claim, determine who is at fault, pay out a fair settlement, and wrap up the claim quickly. However, their goal is actually to limit their company’s financial losses and protect their profit margins. This means that they may be willing to go a little bit further to pin the blame on you and pay you less. Even if it’s obvious their client is at fault, they may still put in some extra work to limit their liability.

How Insurance Companies Investigate Claims

This may start with a quick social media check. If you use Instagram, Facebook, or other forms of social media, it only takes a moment to look and see if you’ve talked about the accident there or posted updates since the accident.

For example, if you’ve reported a broken leg from the accident but your latest Instagram post is of you jet skiing, that will raise some concerns with the insurance company. If you post a Facebook status asking people how to get as much money out of someone’s insurance company after an accident, that will also raise some red flags for them.

If your social media turns up anything concerning or they have reason to believe you may be falsifying your claim, they may go one step further to protect themselves from a fraudulent claim. They may have you followed by an insurance adjuster or private investigator. The investigator is looking for any activity that goes against what you told them about the accident.

If you report crippling back pain that has made it impossible for you to work but the investigator sees you lifting a 50-pound bag of dog food into your trunk, they’ll report that to the insurance company. If you are asking for compensation for lost days at work but the investigator sees you Door Dashing for extra money, you can expect them to report that to the insurance company.

This may feel invasive, but it is completely legal. There are limits to what private investigators and insurance companies can do, but they are allowed to go quite far in investigating a claim.

Protecting Yourself After an Accident

You may wonder how you can protect your claim and fight for the compensation you are owed after an accident, especially if you are being treated like a criminal by the liable party’s insurance company. This is why you need a personal injury attorney.

Your attorney will fight aggressively on your behalf, which is crucial when you’re going up against an insurance company with a massive legal team and tons of experience in misleading accident victims. You can trust your attorney to investigate your accident, gather evidence regarding your injuries and claims, and build a case that highlights the other side’s liability. This puts them in a great position to negotiate for a full and fair settlement on your behalf while you recuperate and focus on healing.

The earlier you contact an attorney, the better. Ideally, you should connect with a lawyer before you have any contact with the other party’s insurance provider.

Choose Haygood, Cleveland, Pierce, Thompson & Short for Your Personal Injury Claim

If you’ve suffered injuries because of someone else’s negligence, it’s time to talk to a personal injury lawyer about your options. Schedule a consultation with Haygood, Cleveland, Pierce, Thompson & Short now by calling us at 334-821-3892 or getting in touch online.