Personal injury guide
Dealing With the Other Driver’s Insurer
Give basic facts, but decline recorded statements, broad medical releases, and quick offers until you know the full extent of your injuries.
The short answer
Their adjuster works for them
After a crash that was not your fault, the other driver’s insurance company may call within a day or two. The adjuster may be friendly and may sound eager to help.
Remember whose interests the adjuster represents. The other driver’s insurer owes its duties to its own policyholder, not to you, and its goal is to resolve your claim for as little as it can.
You do have protections. California regulations set deadlines for insurers to respond to claims and bar them from trying to settle with unreasonably low offers.
None of this means you should be rude or refuse to talk. It means knowing what the call is for, sharing only the basic facts, and leaving the rest for later.
If you were seriously hurt, it is often simplest to let a lawyer handle that first call.
This guide covers which insurance company to call, what to share, what to decline, and how rideshare crashes differ.
1. Whose insurance to call
Both, for different reasons. Notify your own insurer promptly, because your policy requires it and your own coverage, such as medical payments, collision, or uninsured motorist coverage, may help you.
Open a claim with the at-fault driver’s insurer for your property damage and injuries, or let us open it for you.
2. What to say on the first call
It is fine to share:
Your name and contact information
The date, time, and place of the crash
The vehicles and drivers involved
That you are getting medical care
It is wise to decline guesses about speeds or distances, opinions about fault, statements such as "I’m fine" before you have been examined, and discussion of past injuries.
3. Recorded statements
You are not required to give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer. Recorded statements are used to look for inconsistencies, and the questions are often framed to minimize what happened.
Your own insurer is different. Your policy generally requires you to cooperate, which can include a statement. We can prepare you for it and take part.
4. Requests for medical records
Adjusters often send a broad medical authorization. Signing it can open your entire medical history, including care unrelated to the crash. Do not sign a blanket authorization. We provide the records that relate to your injuries.
5. Your car and property damage
The property damage claim usually resolves first and separately from the injury claim. California law lets you choose your own repair shop. You can also recover the reasonable cost of a rental car, or the loss of use of your car, while it is out of service, and a total-loss payment should reflect your car’s value before the crash.
Read any property damage release closely to make sure it does not release your injury claim.
6. Quick offers and releases
A quick check usually comes with a release of all claims, and once you sign, the claim is over. Do not settle an injury claim until your treatment is complete.
California regulations require an insurer to accept or deny a claim within 40 days of receiving proof of it, or to explain in writing why it needs more time, and to pay within 30 days after a settlement is reached. Our guide on how long an injury case takes explains the full timeline.
7. Will your premium go up?
California rules limit when an insurer can count an accident against your driving record and your Good Driver Discount. Generally, the accident must be one in which you were principally at fault, meaning at least 51 percent responsible. A crash you did not cause should not be counted against you that way.
8. Uber and Lyft crashes
Coverage depends on what the rideshare driver was doing at the time:
App off: the driver’s personal auto policy
App on, waiting for a ride request: company coverage of at least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident for injuries, plus excess coverage
From accepting a ride until the ride ends: at least $1 million in liability coverage
Passengers may also have uninsured motorist coverage through the rideshare company while they are in the car. Take screenshots of the trip in the app, and keep any messages with the driver.
9. When to hand it off
If you were hurt, if fault is disputed, or if an adjuster is pressing you for a statement or a quick settlement, it is time to let a lawyer take over. Once you have a lawyer, the insurance company must communicate through us.
Talk with us
Montanez Yu represents people injured in car accidents, pedestrian and bicycle accidents, dog bites, and slips and falls throughout Southern California. Consultations are free. No fee and no costs unless we recover. Call (951) 444-7407 or request a free consultation, and we will handle the insurance companies from there.
This guide is general information about California law, not legal advice for your situation. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.