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Before You Talk to the Insurance Adjuster After a Car Accident in Texas

April 26, 2023

Written and legally reviewedWritten by Sam A. Maida, Jr., Owner and Managing Attorney · Reviewed by Bernard G. Johnson III, Litigation Managing Attorney

Published April 26, 2023 · Last updated October 5, 2026

Part of Houston Car Accident Claims · see also Tips for a Successful Insurance Claim After Texas Car Accident · Houston Auto Accident Attorney: Top 5 Causes of Accidents · What to Do After a Car Accident in Houston · What You Need for Your Case Evaluation with Car Accident Lawyer

Before you talk to an insurance adjuster, find out which company the adjuster works for. If it is your own insurer, your policy requires you to report the crash and cooperate. If it is the other driver’s insurer, you can give the basic facts of the crash and decline to go further until you have had advice; that adjuster works for the company that would have to pay your claim.

The call usually comes within a day or two, before you know how badly you are hurt. This article explains what each adjuster is entitled to, what the Texas Department of Insurance says about the process, and how early statements affect a claim. For a wider view of the claim, see our Houston car accident page.

The short version

Your own insurer: report promptly and cooperate; that is a condition of your policy.
The other driver’s insurer: confirm the basic facts; you can decline a recorded statement and medical authorizations until you have had advice.
Fault is measured in percentages (§ 33.003), so a casual “I’m sorry” or “I didn’t see him” has a cost.
Do not describe your injuries as minor before a doctor has; a signed release ends the claim.
Settlement talks are protected: offers and statements in compromise negotiations are not admissible to prove or disprove the claim (Rule 408).

Woman on the phone taking notes at a desk — Taking notes during a call with an insurer.

Do I have to talk to the insurance adjuster?

To your own company’s adjuster, yes: auto policies require prompt notice of a crash and cooperation with the investigation, and failing to cooperate can jeopardize your coverage. To the other driver’s adjuster, you owe no such duty. You can give your name, your insurer and the basic facts and leave the rest for later.

The state insurance guide describes what your own company may ask of you: a signed proof-of-loss form, more information, and sometimes a medical exam. It also sets out what the company owes you in return, including acknowledging the claim within 15 days and accepting or rejecting it within 15 business days of getting what it needs (Tex. Ins. Code § 542.055(a), § 542.056(a)).

Those deadlines are for first-party claims, the ones you make on your own policy. The other driver’s insurer has no such timetable, which is one reason its adjuster may be in a hurry at first and slow later.

What should I say, and not say, to the other driver’s adjuster?

Give facts you are sure of: the date, time and place, the vehicles involved and your contact and insurance details. Do not guess at speeds or distances, do not accept or assign blame, do not say you are fine, and do not agree to a recorded statement or sign a medical authorization on the first call.

What an early statement can do to a Texas injury claim
If you say	Why it matters	What is behind it
“It was partly my fault” or “I didn’t see him”	Responsibility is divided by percentage; your recovery is reduced by your share and barred if it is greater than 50 percent	Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§ 33.001, 33.012(a)
“I’m fine” or “just a little sore”	The claim is for the injury you can prove; a later diagnosis will be compared with what you said at the start	The injured person has to prove the injury and that the crash caused it
“Yes, you can record this”	A recording fixes your account before you have seen the crash report or a doctor, and its wording can be quoted back to you	The duty to cooperate in your policy is owed to your own insurer
“Send me the forms and I’ll sign”	A release ends the claim; a broad medical authorization opens years of unrelated records	Texas Department of Insurance guide (release)

The percentage rules are in Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, Chapter 33. Read October 5, 2026.

Why does the adjuster want to settle quickly?

Because a claim costs least before its full size is known. In the first days you do not yet know whether the sore neck is a strain or a disc injury, what treatment will cost, or how much work you will miss. A release signed then covers all of it, known and unknown.

The insurance department’s guide describes the moment plainly: the other driver’s insurance company will offer a settlement to cover your medical bills and will ask you to sign a release promising not to file more claims for the accident, and before you sign, you should talk to your doctor about any future treatment you might need. Texas law allows recovery not only for bills but for physical pain, mental anguish, physical impairment and disfigurement (§ 41.001(12)), none of which appears on an early offer.

How the numbers are built is explained in what a Houston car accident claim is worth.

What does talking to an attorney first change?

It changes who the adjuster talks to and what you know. Once an insurer is told you are represented, its adjuster deals with the attorney. And you learn, before saying anything that can be used later, what your claim involves: which policies apply, how fault is likely to be argued, and what the deadline is.

A conversation with an attorney about your case is confidential. The Texas lawyer-client privilege covers a person who consults a lawyer with a view to obtaining legal services (Texas Rules of Evidence, Rule 503). What you tell an adjuster has no such protection, with one exception: offers and statements made in the course of compromise negotiations are not admissible to prove or disprove the validity or amount of the claim (Rule 408).

The deadline is the same whoever you talk to. A suit for personal injury must be brought within two years of the day the cause of action accrues (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(a)), and an adjuster’s promise to “get back to you” does not extend it.

Questions people ask about insurance adjusters

The other driver’s insurer wants a recorded statement. Do I have to give one?

Nothing in the Texas statutes discussed here requires an injured person to give a recorded statement to another driver’s insurance company. Your own policy is different: it requires cooperation with your own insurer. If you are unsure which company is calling, ask, and ask for the request in writing.

Should I sign the medical authorization the adjuster sent?

Read what it covers first. A form that authorizes release of all records from all providers for an unlimited period gives the insurer your full medical history, not just the records of this injury. Records can be supplied without a blanket authorization, and an attorney will usually collect and send the relevant ones.

What if the other driver will not tell me who their insurer is?

The Texas Department of Insurance’s guide says that if the other driver refuses to tell you the name of his or her insurance company, call the police. A driver in a collision is required by law to give the name of his or her motor vehicle liability insurer (Transportation Code § 550.023).

Can I reopen my claim after I sign a release?

A release is a promise not to make further claims for the accident, which is why the state insurance department advises talking to your doctor about future treatment before you sign. Whether any ground exists to set a particular release aside is a legal question to take to an attorney, and it is rarely an easy one.

Is it too late to get an attorney if I already gave a statement?

No. Tell the attorney what you said and to whom, and give them a copy of any recording or transcript you were sent. An early statement is one piece of evidence among many, and the crash report, photographs, witnesses and medical records usually matter more.

If an adjuster has called and you want advice before you call back, reach Maida Law Firm at (713) 785-9484 or through the contact page. More background is in our article on whether an insurance claim needs an attorney.