You should report your automobile accident to the insurance. But when they ask to record your conversation, there are good reasons to say "No" until after you talk to your lawyer.

After you’ve been in a car accident, you should contact your insurance company, no matter who was at fault. Your insurance company immediately will start gathering information from you about the accident for their records. And, yes, very likely the insurance company will want to record the phone conversation. There are good reasons not allowing your conversation to be recorded, at least until after you talk with an attorney about the accident.

Most likely the insurance company will ask your permission to record the phone call for their records. Many insurance businesses ask first as a company policy, to explicitly let the customer know their phone conversation is being recorded or monitored and obtaining permission to do so. But that is not always done. So, whenever you are talking with your insurance company assume the call may be monitored.

Should you give your permission to allow the call to be recorded? If you do, you might regret it. Especially if you or your passengers were injured in the accident, or if you believe the insurance company might try to claim you are not covered or you have any concerns about the adequacy of your coverage, you should contact an attorney before you give the insurance company permission to record your conversation.

Similarly, if the other driver's insurance company asks you to give a statement to them, don't do so without first consulting with your attorney. Otherwise, what you say could be held against you later and you may regret what you said. All that you need to do if asked to give a statement is to politely decline to talk, and don't give in if asked again no matter what the reason the person gives you.

Too many people are naive about this process. They believe the insurance companies must be looking out for them, too. You need to understand this: when you talk to the claims adjuster for the insurance company, you are talking to a professional negotiator. He or she has extensive training and experience in using various psychological techniques to maneuver and trap you into giving information that can hurt your claim. That might even include discouraging you from using the professional services of a lawyer.

Even with these risks, you should not delay reporting accidents to your insurance company. Your failure to provide information on a timely basis to your insurance company could result in loss of coverage for the accident, without it constituting bad faith by the insurer. Your individual policy will explain how quickly you must notify the company.

This article is intended to provide general information only and as specific legal advice. You should not rely upon this information alone, but should consult legal counsel regarding the application of the laws and regulations discussed and as applied to your specific case or circumstance.