It’s a common scenario: you’ve been hurt at work, you’ve reported the injury to your employer, and now you’re being asked to give a recorded statement about the accident. What should you do?

When you report a workplace injury, your employer will typically file a claim with its insurance company, which will take the lead in investigating the accident and your injury.  Once that investigation is completed, the insurance company will decide whether to accept your claim and pay you for any necessary medical care or lost wages, or deny your claim.  As a part of that investigation, you may be asked to give a statement about the accident to an employee of the insurance company called an adjuster.  These statements are typically recorded, and what you say can be used by the insurance company as a reason to deny your claim, and can also be used later as evidence in court.  What you say may be critical to your case later on, in ways you might not even realize.  No matter how sympathetic or friendly the person taking your statement appears to be, remember that he or she is an employee of the insurance company, whose job it is to pay you as little as possible, or nothing, for your claim.  The insurance company is looking for any reason to avoid paying you benefits, and the questions they ask you can be tricky.  Adjusters do this every day and know the answers they are looking for, they know the law, and they are not on your side.  It’s their job.  Before you agree to give a recorded statement, you should consult an experienced workers’ compensation attorney who can help you be on the lookout for traps, who knows the law inside and out, and who is on your side.  That’s our job.  Let us see how we can help – call us for a free consultation.