When you get hurt and need to file an insurance claim, it is up to the insurance company whether they believe you and will grant you the damages you demanded. If you have to take them to court, the jury decides who to believe instead. This means the insurance company will usually do what it can to undermine your credibility.
Insurance companies will do everything short of calling you a liar by pointing out inconsistent statements, muddying the facts presented, and claiming you are exaggerating or mistaken. They may even go so far as to flat-out accuse you of lying, but our lawyers can correct the record and protect your credibility.
Call The Queenan Law Firm’s Dallas personal injury lawyers at (817) 476-1797 to get a free review of your potential injury case.
Inconsistent Stories
One of the simplest ways to show you are wrong is to show that you don’t even have one consistent story to tell. There are several statements and stories they can often get access to, and any inconsistencies between these stories could hurt your case.
Your Recorded Statements
Insurance companies often request recorded statements. Everything you say to them on the phone is usually recorded, and they can introduce it later to show inconsistencies.
Your Court Complaint
Your actual complaint filed in court details what happened. If your claim in court is different from the stories you have been telling so far, it will call into question why you are changing your complaint now or whether your complaint is even based on the facts presented in other versions of the story.
Statements to Police at the Scene
Police might write down statements you made at the scene of the accident. These are often considered some of the strongest statements, since everything is fresh.
We may need to call the officers to the stand to clarify what they wrote in a report or clarify what you did or did not say in the immediate aftermath of the accident. We may also be able to argue that adrenaline masked your injuries or that you were confused after the crash, potentially with help from medical experts.
Testimony from Family and Friends
If you told your family or friends what happened, they could be asked to testify as to the version of the story you spread to them. If it is inconsistent, it can at least call into question your memory of the events or your motivation for telling the court a different story than you told your loved ones.
Testimony from Investigators
Investigators may pose as friendly strangers and try to work the story of your accident out of you. They may also approach you directly as investigators to get you to repeat your story. Avoid talking to strangers or investigators about the accident.
Statements Made on Social Media
Do not post about the accident on social media. Any statements you make there can be scrutinized against these other statements.
Exaggerations and Lies
You should never lie, embellish, or exaggerate your story or the facts about your injury. Even when you are telling the truth, insurance companies will often go out of their way to try to prove you are lying with the following tactics.
Scrutinizing Your Language
People speak in hyperbole all the time – such as in this sentence. We do not mean that people are exaggerating literally “all the time,” but we rather mean “frequently” or “commonly.”
Scrutinizing absolute phrases like “always” or “never,” superlative phrases like “worst” or “best,” and other common phrases could potentially convince a jury your story is weak.
Taking Advantage of Your Lack of Medical and Legal Training
Sometimes, words have a different meaning in the medical context or legal context. Insurance companies may rely on that to prove that something you said is actually an exaggeration or lie.
Instead, we can show that you were just using everyday, colloquial language and not specific medical definitions. We can also point to things your doctors might have said – such as comparing your injury to a more serious injury – that caused you to be confused about your condition or prognosis.
Mistakes Are Not Lies
If you made a mistake, the insurance company might try to make it seem like you were intentionally lying, when that isn’t the case at all.
Reputation for Truthfulness or Past Conduct
The defense can actually introduce evidence that you are untrustworthy through two types of evidence under the Texas Rules of Evidence:
- Rule 608(a) allows evidence of your reputation for “untruthfulness,” such as statements from friends or employers about your character for telling lies. We can counter with evidence of “truthfulness.”
- Rule 608(b) allows examples of specific instances of lies in the past, potentially including evidence of past crimes under Rule 609. That could include “crimes of moral turpitude” (e.g., fraud) committed within the past 10 years.
How Your Testimony Can Be Challenged
If your story or statements are seen as inconsistent, untrustworthy, or weak, it can come up to hurt your case in three major areas:
Insurance Denials
If the insurance company doesn’t believe you, they can deny your claim. This makes it harder to get your damages paid and may mean having to go to court.
Impeachment on the Stand
If you testify – which you usually need to do in an injury case – then the defense can cross-examine you. During cross-examination, they can confront you with your prior statements by literally reading them to you, then asking you about them.
Showing that you said something different might hurt your credibility, so it is important to know about prior statements, check on the consistency, and come up with a plan for how to explain these statements before you testify.
Arguments to the Jury
If inconsistent statements are introduced at trial, it becomes your Texas personal injury lawyer’s job to make arguments about them in closing arguments. We can only speak directly to the jury to argue these kinds of issues at the end of your case, and it may be important to address why you had multiple stories and why certain stories should be believed.
We may also be able to explain how they really aren’t that inconsistent after all.
Call Our Texas Personal Injury Attorneys for Help Today
For help with your injury case, call the Houston, TX personal injury lawyers at The Queenan Law Firm at (817) 476-1797.