Insurance Is Asking For An EUO. But What Is That?

If you are in an accident, especially a car accident, you will of course have some level of contract with your own insurance company. Your insurance company wants to know, and has a right to know what happened in the accident, and the nature, level and extent of your injuries, so it knows whether the claim is valid or not.

So, your insurance company will ask you questions, but they don’t just want to ask you those questions informally. They may ask for what is known as an examination under oath, or EUO.

What is an EUO?

An EUO is like a deposition, but less formal. It is similar to a deposition in that your answers will be recorded, and transcribed, and, as the name indicates, answers are sworn to under the penalty of perjury.

Why Is It So Dangerous to Your Case?

Many accident victims are lulled into a false sense of confidence, because the party asking for the EUO, and asking the questions during the EUO, is the victim’s own insurance company, presumably, a party that’s “on your side.”

But don’t be fooled. The EUO can often have more nefarious purposes.

The EUO can trip you up and potentially damage your right to recover, in a number of ways.

The primary problem is that the insurance company, although it says it “just needs some basic information,” is actually taking the EUO, so that it can find a way to deny you benefits.

Expecting property damage insurance to pay? Relying on personal injury protection or Medpay benefits, to help pay some of your medical expenses? The insurance company can use your responses to the EUO, to say you no longer need any insurance payments, or that the insurance payments to help you are unnecessary, and they can terminate your benefits under the policy.

This can leave you with, in the short term, no ability to pay your medical expenses or lost wages or fix your property damage.

The other problem is more inadvertent. Because the EUO responses are recorded, anybody can get or see them, including the other side (the negligent driver who injured you). If you accidentally say something in your EUO that damages your case against the negligent driver, you could be jeopardizing your ability to recover damages from that party.

Timing of the EUO

Many insurance companies will want an EUO, very early in the process, perhaps days after the accident. This means that when they ask for the EUO, many victims haven’t even had time to look for, and hire, a good personal injury attorney. Many victims figure they’ll get an attorney afterwards; they don’t need an attorney to deal with their own insurance.

But as you can see, that is false thinking, but it’s that reasoning your insurance company is relying upon. They don’t want you having an attorney to help you, or prepare you for your EUO.

Is your insurance company asking for information? Now would be the time to get good legal help. Contact our Rhode Island injury lawyers at Robert E. Craven & Associates at 401-453-2700 for help.

Source:

irmi.com/term/insurance-definitions/examination-under-oath