What insurance companies say and what they actually mean!

Over the past 21 years, I've worked for both sides - the insurance companies and now for the victims of serious car accidents.  Here is a "somewhat" tongue-in-cheek translation of statements made by insurance companies and what the statements ACTUALLY mean in the real world.  Hope this helps:

WHAT THEY SAY: 

"Just send us all your medical records and bills and we will evaluate your claim."

WHAT THEY ACTUALLY MEAN:

"Just send us all your medical records and bills.  We will then slash your bills by 50% if you're lucky!"

WHAT THEY SAY:

"Just go ahead and rent a car.  Then send us your rental bill and we will take care of everything."

WHAT THEY ACTUALLY MEAN:

"Go ahead a rent a car.  When you submit your bill, we might entertain paying a fraction of it. You either paid too much or rented for too long.  Perhaps both!"

WHAT THEY SAY:

"Go to whatever doctors you want.  Have them submit their bills to us.  We will take care of it."

WHAT THEY ACTUALLY MEAN:

"Go to whatever doctors you want.  Good luck getting us to pay those bills.  We will either argue you treated too much, were charged too much, or both."

WHAT THEY SAY:

"We would like to take your recorded statement to learn more about the accident, your version of the events, and your injuries."

WHAT THEY ACTUALLY MEAN:

"We would like to record you in an effort to box you into a story and use your words against you at a later date.  Just FYI, a recorded statement has rarely benefited the person giving the statement."

WHAT THEY SAY:

"We would like to meet with you to discuss the accident and learn more about your injuries and damages."

WHAT THEY ACTUALLY MEAN:

"We would like to meet with you to feign interest in your matter.  After we do so, we will dangle a check in front of you for $500 along with a general release so you can never bother us again."

WHAT THEY SAY:

"We need to investigate this matter before we can assist you with your claim."

WHAT THEY ACTUALLY MEAN:

"Although liability is clear, we want to "investigate" for weeks while we delay your claim and try to avoid responsibility.  Then we will argue we are not responsible for any damages you incurred while we were investigating/stalling."

WHAT THEY SAY:

"We are very sorry to hear about your accident. Our client was definitely at fault.  We will guide you every step of the way."

WHAT THEY ACTUALLY MEAN:

"We are employees of the opposing insurance company.  We don't work for you, so be prepared to be disappointed."

WHAT THEY SAY:

"We are going to use an independent third party company to evaluate the value of your vehicle."

WHAT THEY ACTUALLY MEAN:

"We are going to offer you about 85% of the value of your vehicle because an independent company (who we hire over and over again....REALLY they are independent) said your car is worth less than every other resource you found."

Again, this was a tongue-in-cheek look at what insurance companies say and what they actually mean.  While there are always adjusters who are exceptional at what they do, there are unfortunately others who continue to make the list above less fictional.