The other driver's insurance adjuster wants a recorded statement. Do I have to give one?

Within a day or two of a crash in Hialeah, your phone rings. It is a friendly adjuster from the other driver’s insurance company. They are sorry about the accident, they want to “get your side of the story,” and they need to record the call “for accuracy.” It sounds routine. It is not. I have handled and, as an arbitrator, decided injury claims for more than sixty years, and the recorded statement is where more good claims are damaged than anywhere else outside the doctor’s office.

Why does the adjuster want a recorded statement so early?

Because you are at your least prepared. In the first days after a crash you do not yet know the extent of your injuries, you have not seen the crash report, you may be on pain medication, and you want to be polite. The adjuster’s questions are designed to produce answers that limit the claim:

• “How are you feeling today?” — “Fine, thanks” becomes evidence you were not hurt.
• “Did you see the other car before impact?” — Any answer can be turned into an argument that you could have avoided the crash.
• “Have you had any prior neck or back problems?” — A yes, even about something minor years ago, becomes the “pre-existing condition” defense.
• “How fast were you going?” — Estimates given under stress are used to argue speed.
• “Where were you headed? Were you in a hurry?” — Distraction and haste.
• “What did the doctor say?” — Anything less than a diagnosis is used to minimize.

None of these are trick questions in the sense of being unfair to ask. They are simply asked at a moment when your answers are least likely to help you, and recorded so they can be quoted back a year later.

What do I actually owe the other driver’s insurance company?

Nothing. There is no Florida statute and no rule that requires an injured person to give a statement, recorded or otherwise, to a third party’s liability insurer. The insurer owes duties to its own insured, the driver who hit you, and it has a duty under Fla. Stat. § 626.9541(1)(i) not to engage in unfair claim settlement practices, including misrepresenting facts or policy provisions to you. It does not get to require your cooperation. You can and should decline.

What do I owe my own insurance company?

More. Your own auto policy has a cooperation clause, and Florida’s PIP statute specifically allows your insurer to require an examination under oath as a condition of PIP benefits (Fla. Stat. § 627.736(6)(g)). If you make an uninsured motorist claim, your UM insurer will also want a statement, and it will use it the same way the other driver’s insurer would, because in a UM claim your own insurer is effectively standing in the at-fault driver’s shoes. So even with your own company: cooperate, but do it after you have talked to a lawyer, and with the lawyer on the line.

What should I say when the adjuster calls?

Something like this, and no more:

“I’m not able to give a statement right now. My name is ___, the claim number is ___, and my attorney will be in touch. Please direct further contact to them.”

If you have not hired a lawyer yet, replace the last sentence with “I’ll call you back,” and then call one. It is fine to be polite; it is not required to be helpful. Do not discuss your injuries, how the crash happened, prior injuries, or your work. Do not agree to a “quick” settlement, and do not sign a medical authorization from the other insurer — a broad authorization lets them pull your entire medical history, not just records from the crash.

Why comparative fault makes this matter more in Florida

Since March 24, 2023, Florida uses modified comparative negligence (Fla. Stat. § 768.81(6)). If you are found more than 50% at fault, you recover nothing from the other driver; if you are 50% or less, your recovery is reduced by your share. That rule turns every ambiguous statement about speed, attention, or lane position into money. An adjuster who can build a recording toward 51% has ended the claim without ever going to court.

What we do at Wolfson & Leon

When we are retained, we send a letter of representation to every insurer involved the same day. From then on, adjusters are required to contact us, not you, and the phone stops ringing. If a statement to your own insurer is required, we prepare you for it and attend. If you already gave a statement before calling us, we get the transcript, read it with you, and deal with whatever is in it. Nothing in a recorded statement is fatal by itself; consistent medical records and a well-documented claim carry far more weight than a phone call on day two.

Call (305) 285-7071 before you call the adjuster back. The consultation is free, in English or Spanish, and it costs nothing to know what not to say.