Should You Give the Adjuster a Recorded Statement?
A few days after a Michigan crash, the phone rings. A friendly adjuster says they just need a quick recorded statement to process your claim. It sounds routine. It is not. For the other driver’s insurance company, you almost never have to give one, and what you say can be used to shrink or deny your claim later. Worse, insurers increasingly run these recordings through AI software that transcribes every word and flags anything that sounds inconsistent. Here is the bottom line: slow down, know which insurer is asking and why, and do not agree to be recorded before you have talked to a lawyer. This guide explains your rights and the safer way to handle the call.
The Short Answer
You generally do not have to give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurance company. They are not your insurer, you have no contract with them, and Michigan law does not require you to sit for their recording. Politely declining is your right, and a good adjuster will not be surprised by it. The pressure to “just get it on the record now” exists because early statements, taken while you are shaken, in pain, and before you know the full extent of your injuries, are the most useful to the insurer and the most dangerous to you.
Your Own Insurer Is a Different Question
Your own auto policy is another matter. Most policies include a “duty to cooperate” clause, and Michigan’s no-fault system can require you to assist in the investigation of your own claim, including in some situations an examination under oath. But cooperating does not always mean handing over a recorded statement on demand. Often you can satisfy your obligation with documents, written answers, or an unrecorded conversation, and you can have a lawyer present. The point is that the rules differ depending on who is calling, and you are allowed to ask which insurer it is and why they need a recording before you agree to anything. Keep in mind that an examination under oath is a formal, sworn proceeding, which is very different from a casual recorded phone call, and you can and should have a lawyer with you for it. Be extra careful if you are making an uninsured or underinsured motorist claim against your own carrier, because in that situation your own insurer is effectively the other side, and it can try to use that cooperation duty to pin down your words.
Why They Want It Recorded, and the New AI Twist
An adjuster wants your words locked in early because memories and injuries evolve. The recording freezes a version of events from the worst possible moment to capture it. What is new is what happens after the call. Insurers increasingly feed these recordings into AI tools that transcribe them automatically and scan for tone, hesitation, and any phrase that can be read as downplaying your injuries. Sentiment and voice-analysis software is now marketed to carriers specifically to flag claimants for closer scrutiny. So a casual “I’m okay” or “I feel a little better today,” meant as ordinary politeness, can be pulled out by a machine, highlighted, and later thrown back at you as if it were a considered medical opinion.
How One Sentence Becomes a Weapon
Anything you say to an insurer can come back as evidence. Under Michigan Rule of Evidence 801(d)(2), your own statement can be used against you as an admission, and it does not get excluded as hearsay. If your recorded words differ even slightly from what you later tell your doctor or testify to, MRE 613 lets the defense confront you with the earlier statement to make you look inconsistent. Insurers use this to attack the injury threshold in MCL 500.3135, arguing that because you said you felt fine, your injury cannot really affect your normal life. None of that means you did anything wrong. It means an offhand phrase, recorded on day three and analyzed by software, can be twisted into a months-long headache for your case.
| What the adjuster asks | Why it can be a trap | Safer approach |
|---|---|---|
| “How are you feeling today?” | “Fine” or “better” gets quoted as proof you are not hurt | Do not characterize your injuries; refer them to your records |
| “Just tell me what happened.” | Early gaps or guesses become “inconsistencies” later | Decline to give a recorded narrative without counsel |
| “Were you hurt anywhere else?” | Injuries that surface later look invented if unlisted now | Let medical providers document injuries over time |
| “Can we record this to help you?” | The recording helps the insurer, not you | Say you will follow up after speaking with a lawyer |
What If You Already Gave a Statement?
Do not panic if you already talked to an adjuster, recorded or not. It is not the end of your claim. The first step is to stop giving more statements and avoid trying to “correct” the record on your own, because a second call usually creates more inconsistencies, not fewer. Tell your lawyer exactly what you remember saying so it can be put in context next to your medical records and the facts of the crash. An early “I’m okay” is not a medical finding, and a skilled attorney can explain that you were in shock, undiagnosed, or simply being polite, which juries understand. Many strong cases include an unhelpful early statement. What matters is that everything you say from here forward is careful, consistent, and guided by someone whose only job is protecting you.
What to Do Before You Talk to Anyone
If an adjuster calls, you can be polite and still protect yourself. Get the basics, who they are, which company and which insured they represent, and a claim number, then say you are not prepared to give a recorded statement and will follow up. You are not being difficult, you are being careful, and you are within your rights. Do not guess about fault, do not estimate your injuries, and do not agree that you feel “fine.” Then call a lawyer. Two deadlines make this urgent: Michigan’s one-year notice and one-year-back rule for no-fault benefits under MCL 500.3145, and the three-year limit to file an injury lawsuit under MCL 600.5805. (Since the 2019 reforms, the one-year-back clock can pause once you make a specific claim for payment, until the insurer formally denies it, under MCL 500.3145(3), but you should never gamble your benefits on that timing.) A lawyer can deal with the adjusters for you, make sure any required cooperation is handled the right way, and keep a stray sentence from being turned into the centerpiece of the defense. If you are weighing whether to handle the claim yourself, our guide on using ChatGPT instead of a lawyer explains why that gamble usually costs more than it saves.
ਅਕਸਰ ਪੁੱਛੇ ਜਾਂਦੇ ਸਵਾਲ
Do I have to give the other driver’s insurance company a recorded statement?
Generally no. You have no contract with the at-fault driver’s insurer, and Michigan law does not require you to sit for their recording. You can decline politely and tell them your attorney will be in touch.
What about my own insurance company?
Your own policy usually includes a duty to cooperate, and no-fault claims can require you to assist the investigation, sometimes through an examination under oath. But cooperating does not always mean an on-demand recording; documents or an unrecorded conversation, with a lawyer present, may satisfy the obligation. Ask which insurer is calling and why before agreeing.
Can what I say in a recorded statement really hurt my case?
Yes. Under MRE 801(d)(2) your own words can be used against you as an admission, and under MRE 613 an earlier inconsistent statement can be used to impeach you. Insurers use small inconsistencies to attack the serious impairment threshold in MCL 500.3135.
Is it true insurers use AI to analyze my recorded statement?
Increasingly, yes. Carriers use software that transcribes calls and runs sentiment and voice analysis to flag tone, hesitation, and phrases that sound like you are minimizing your injuries. That makes a single careless word much easier for the insurer to find and use.
What should I say if an adjuster calls right now?
Get their name, company, the insured they represent, and a claim number, then say you are not giving a recorded statement and will follow up after speaking with a lawyer. Do not guess about fault or describe your injuries, and call an attorney before the one-year no-fault notice deadline under MCL 500.3145 passes.
Adjuster pushing for a recorded statement? Talk to a real attorney first.
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