If I’m in a car accident and State Farm is my insurer, State Farm calls and gets a statement. If I’m in a car accident and I hit somebody, and that person’s insurer might call and try to get a statement from me. Under those circumstances, this is a classic lawyer’s answer, but what you do depends on the circumstances. If in doubt, say, “Listen, let me get back to you,” okay? Always be polite and never try to pretend you’re somebody else, just, “Let me get back to you. What did you say your name was? What company are you from? What’s your phone number? What claim is this about? All right, let me get back to you. When are you available?” Be very polite.

Then you call a lawyer and say, “These are the circumstances. I had this medical claim a month ago or this car accident, and now so-and-so wants to talk to me.” Sometimes I’ll tell them, “This is your own carrier; they just wanna figure out to see if you were driving rather than somebody else, and you can talk to ’em.” Oftentimes, I’ll say, “I’ll write ’em. I’ll write ’em, and from now on, all the contact goes from the insurance company to me to you rather than directly.”