No, not before you talk to a lawyer. You must report the crash to your own insurer, but nothing requires you to give the other driver’s adjuster a recorded statement, and those statements are used to reduce what you are paid.
Adjusters call within a day or two, sound sympathetic, and ask to record a short statement to “process the claim.” The statement is not for your benefit. Questions about speed, what you saw, whether you were hurt, and whether you had prior injuries are designed to produce a percentage of fault under Texas proportionate responsibility rules and a reason to discount the injury.
Your obligations run to your own insurer under your policy: report the crash promptly and cooperate. Those obligations do not extend to the other driver’s carrier.
If you already gave a statement, do not panic. Tell your lawyer exactly what was asked and answered. Early statements can be explained, and the physical evidence and medical records usually matter more.
Owsley Law Firm handles every communication with the insurers once retained, so clients never speak to an adjuster again. The consultation is free and there is no fee unless the firm wins.
What to do, step by step
- Report the crash to your own insurer promptly and factually, as your policy requires.
- When the other driver's adjuster calls, ask for the adjuster's name, company, and claim number, and say you will call back.
- Do not agree to record, sign a medical authorization, or discuss injuries, speed, or fault on that call.
- Write down what was asked and when, and keep any letter or email the adjuster sends.
- Hand the communication to your lawyer, who takes over all contact with the insurer.
Texas is a one-party consent state for recording under Penal Code section 16.02, so a call can lawfully be recorded with only the adjuster's knowledge, and you should assume any call to an insurer is being recorded whether or not you are told. What matters is not the legality of the recording but how the words are used later, quoted back in a demand response or at a deposition.
It also helps to understand who owes you what. Your own insurer owes you duties under your policy and under Insurance Code Chapter 541, which prohibits unfair settlement practices toward its insureds. The other driver's insurer owes you no duty of good faith. The Texas Supreme Court held long ago that a third-party claimant cannot sue the at-fault driver's insurer for bad faith in handling the claim, so its adjuster is negotiating against you, not for you.
The one obligation you do have is cooperation with your own carrier, and that is best met by giving it the facts in writing or through your lawyer. An insurer that needs a statement from you to pay a first-party claim, such as personal injury protection, can be given one with your lawyer present or after preparation.
The practical result of declining the other side's statement is small. The adjuster still has the police report, the photographs, and the medical records once you authorize a limited release. What the adjuster loses is a recorded admission, which is the thing the request was designed to get.
Mistakes that cost people money
- Saying you are fine or okay on a recorded line before you have been examined.
- Guessing at speeds, distances, or times instead of saying you do not know.
- Signing a broad medical authorization that lets the insurer search years of unrelated records.
- Assuming a friendly tone means the adjuster is on your side.
Related questions
Can the other insurer force me to give a statement?
No. There is no Texas rule that requires you to give the at-fault driver's insurer a recorded statement. You can decline politely and refer the adjuster to your lawyer, and the claim will still move forward on the documents.
What if my own insurer asks for a statement?
Your policy requires cooperation, so you should respond. It is reasonable to have your lawyer present or to give the statement in writing, and to answer only what is asked about the crash itself.
Is a written statement safer than a recorded one?
Not automatically. A written statement can be just as damaging and is harder to correct. Whatever form it takes, it should be reviewed by a lawyer before anything goes to the other side's insurer.
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