Insurance & Claims
Should I give a recorded statement to the insurance adjuster?
Short answer
You are generally not required to give a recorded statement to the other driver's insurance company, and in MCA's experience doing so early — before the full extent of your injuries is known — more often hurts a claim than helps it.
What Georgia law says
Georgia law imposes no duty to give a recorded statement to a third-party liability insurer. Duties owed to your own carrier arise from the policy's cooperation clause, not from statute.
How this actually works
The at-fault driver's adjuster works for the company that will pay your claim. A recorded statement is a discovery tool: it locks in your description of the crash, your symptoms as of that day, and any casual remark that can later be quoted back as an admission.
The injury problem is timing. Soft tissue injuries, concussions and disc injuries frequently declare themselves days or weeks after impact. Saying "I'm okay, just sore" in a recorded call on day two becomes the centerpiece of a later argument that your treatment was unnecessary.
Your own insurer is different. Most policies contain a cooperation clause that obligates you to assist in the investigation of your own first-party claim, including UM claims. Even then, you can generally prepare in advance, have counsel present, and correct the record.
What you should do
- 01Decline politely and ask for the request in writing
- 02Confirm the crash report and claim number instead
- 03Finish your diagnostic workup before describing injuries
- 04Have an attorney handle contact with the liability adjuster
Important exceptions
If your claim is against your own insurer — including UM and medical payments claims — refusing all cooperation can be treated as a policy breach. The answer there is prepared cooperation, not silence.
Attorney
Who handles this type of case at MCA
Licensed in Georgia and mapped to this case type in the MCA attorney bench. Attorney availability is not a statement that this page has been legally reviewed.
MCA Answers
What you may need to know next
Straight answers built around Georgia law, authoritative sources and practical guidance.
- Can the insurance company access my medical records?Only what you authorize, or what a court orders. No insurer can pull your medical history on its own — it needs a signed HIPAA authorization, and the blanket authorization adjusters send often covers far more than the crash: years of history, mental health, substance treatment, employment and sometimes billing records. You can limit an authorization to the relevant providers and time period, or provide the records yourself instead. Your own UM or medical payments carrier, however, has contractual cooperation rights that are broader than a third-party adjuster's.
- Should I accept the insurance company's first settlement offer?Usually not — at least not before you know what your treatment is finished costing you. A first offer is normally made while your medical picture is incomplete, and once you sign the release the claim is over, even if you need surgery three months later. There is no legal requirement to accept or reject an offer quickly, and in Georgia you generally have two years from the crash to file suit, so early pressure to sign is almost always the adjuster's timeline, not yours.
- What if my pain started several days after the accident?Delayed pain is normal and does not defeat a Georgia claim, but it does change how you have to document it. Soft-tissue and disc injuries frequently become symptomatic 24 to 72 hours later, and adjusters routinely argue that a gap between the crash and the first medical visit means the injury came from something else. The fix is practical: get evaluated promptly once symptoms appear, tell the provider the crash is the suspected cause, and keep treating consistently.
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