Should You Talk to Insurance After a Calabasas Car Accident?
An adjuster is going to call. Maybe they already have. The question of whether you should talk to them - and how much you should say - depends entirely on which insurance company is calling. Your own insurer and the other driver's insurer are two very different conversations.
Your Own Insurance Company: Yes, But Carefully
You are contractually required to cooperate with your own insurer under the terms of your policy. That means you need to report the accident, provide basic facts about what happened, and cooperate with their investigation. You cannot simply refuse to speak with your own insurance company without risking a coverage denial.
What "cooperate" means in practice: give them the facts. Date, location, who was involved, what happened. What it does not mean: giving a full recorded statement immediately after the crash before you understand your injuries, accepting a quick settlement offer for a claim you haven't fully evaluated, or discussing fault in a way that could affect your own coverage.
If you have uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage - worth checking on your California policy right now if you don't know - that claim runs through your own insurer too. You want to cooperate fully while also making sure you don't inadvertently undervalue the claim.
The Other Driver's Insurance Company: Be Very Careful
Here is what you are not required to do: give a recorded statement to the other driver's insurance company. They will ask for one. They may make it sound routine or even required. It is not. You have no contractual obligation to the other driver's insurer. They are not on your side.
Why do they ask for recorded statements? Because recorded statements are useful to them. Adjusters are trained to ask questions in ways that generate useful answers. "How fast were you going?" "Did you see them coming?" "When did you first try to brake?" These questions sound routine. The answers can be used to establish partial fault on your part, to limit the injuries you're claiming, or to lock you into a version of events before you've had a chance to understand what happened.
After a crash on the 101 near Calabasas, on Las Virgenes Road, or anywhere in the area, you have the right to say: "I'm not going to give a recorded statement right now. Please communicate with my attorney." If you don't have an attorney yet, you can simply say you're not prepared to give a recorded statement at this time.
What You Should Do Instead of a Recorded Statement
Document your own account of the crash in writing, for yourself, as soon as possible after the accident. While the details are fresh. What happened, in what order, what the road conditions were, what you saw and heard. This is not a statement to anyone - it's your own record, protected by attorney-client privilege if you later share it with a lawyer.
If you've already spoken with the other driver's adjuster and said things you wish you hadn't, that's not necessarily catastrophic. An attorney can evaluate what was said and how it affects your position. But the sooner you stop providing additional information to the other side, the better.
What Insurance Companies Do With What You Tell Them
Insurers build files. Every piece of information they collect - your statement, the CHP or LASD Lost Hills Station report, photographs, social media posts, medical records they can access - goes into a file that shapes their liability and damages assessment. They're building the case for a low settlement from the moment they receive notice of the claim.
You're not doing the same thing. Most crash victims are focused on recovering, dealing with their vehicle, managing medical appointments. The information asymmetry that develops in the weeks after a Calabasas car accident is one of the main reasons represented claimants consistently recover more than unrepresented ones.
Talking with a Calabasas car accident lawyer before giving any substantive statement to either insurer is the most protective thing you can do for your claim.
The Practical Rules
Report the accident to your own insurer promptly. Provide basic facts when asked. Do not give a recorded statement to the other driver's insurer. Do not accept a settlement offer from anyone before you understand the full extent of your injuries - which can take weeks. Do not post about the accident or your injuries on social media. Keep notes on every symptom you experience and every medical appointment you attend.
Our Calabasas personal injury attorneys are available for free consultations. If an adjuster is calling and you're not sure what to say, call us before you call them back.
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