The Shoulder
The Shoulder
55
Insuranceswift-swift-886

Other driver's insurance keeps blowing up my phone — and now says I 'filed a claim' with them??

So I got rear-ended about two weeks ago at a red light. Dead stop, nowhere to go, and this guy just plows into the back of my car. The responding officer noted he was following too closely and cited him on the spot. Pretty open and shut.

I filed everything through my own insurance right away. My adjuster was great — told me the other driver is clearly at fault, they're already in contact with his carrier, and that I don't need to do anything except let them handle it.

Here's where it gets weird. His insurance has called me four times in the past week. I haven't picked up once because honestly I didn't know if I should. But this morning I got a text that said something like 'Thanks for reaching out to [carrier name] — your claim has been opened and your assigned adjuster is ready to assist you.'

I never called them. I never spoke to anyone there. I never gave them my number directly (though I guess it was on the accident report).

Now I'm paranoid. A few questions rattling around my head:

1. How did a claim get 'opened' if I never contacted them? Is this just auto-generated when someone reports an accident involving another party? 2. Should I call them back or just ignore it entirely? My own adjuster said she's handling it, but I don't want some unanswered voicemail to come back and bite me. 3. Is there any scenario where talking to them could accidentally hurt me — even if I'm 100% not at fault?

I've got some soft tissue stuff going on in my neck and shoulder I'm keeping an eye on, so I really don't want to mess anything up before I know how I'm feeling. Any advice from people who've been through this appreciated.

9replies

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9 replies

  • 18
    mellow-dove-113

    Simple: don't call them back. Forward their number to your adjuster and tell her they keep reaching out. That's it. You're not being rude or uncooperative — you're just letting the process work the way it's supposed to.

  • 10
    genuine-heron-742

    Ugh, this sounds so stressful on top of already dealing with an accident. I'd just let your adjuster handle all of it and stop answering numbers you don't recognize for a while honestly. You shouldn't have to play defense when someone hit you.

  • 18
    keen-owl-034

    Not legal advice, but: you have zero obligation to give a statement to the adverse carrier, and doing so before you understand the full extent of your injuries is generally not in your interest. The neck and shoulder symptoms you mentioned are worth taking seriously — you don't want to settle or say anything on record before you know whether those resolve on their own or become a longer issue. Might be worth a free consult with a PI attorney just to understand your options, especially if medical treatment becomes part of this.

  • 7
    warm-swan-044

    Please take the neck and shoulder symptoms seriously — don't brush them off just because you feel 'okay enough.' Soft tissue injuries from rear-end collisions can feel mild for days and then flare up significantly. Get seen by a doctor now, not when it gets worse, and make sure everything is documented. That documentation matters both for your health and for any claim down the line.

  • 20
    silent-lynx-684

    Four calls in one week is aggressive. They are not doing that because they care about you. They want to talk to you before your injuries fully declare themselves and before you've had a chance to think about what this is worth. The neck and shoulder stuff you mentioned? That can turn into something real. Don't let them rush you into anything.

    • 0
      patient-traveler529

      Same boat here. Did anyone mention a deadline to watch out for?

  • 13
    bright-heron-063

    Worked in claims for years — that auto-text is completely normal and doesn't mean you did anything. When a policyholder reports a loss, the other party often gets sucked into the system automatically because their contact info is in the report. What I'd caution you about: the reason they keep calling isn't to help you. They want a recorded statement. If they can get you to say anything even slightly ambiguous — 'I didn't see him coming' or 'it happened so fast' — they'll use it. Those phrases sound innocent but adjusters are trained to work with them. Don't give a recorded statement to the adverse carrier without at least knowing your rights first.

    • 22
      daring-marmot-363

      You're not legally required to speak with the at-fault party's insurance company, especially when you have your own carrier actively handling the claim. The cleanest move is to send any of their future calls straight to voicemail and text or email your own adjuster a heads-up saying 'XYZ carrier keeps contacting me directly, please advise.' That creates a paper trail showing you're cooperating through proper channels. If they ask why you won't talk to them, your adjuster can communicate that on your behalf.

  • 14
    bold-crow-212

    This happened to me almost exactly. The other driver's insurance opened a claim on their end the moment their insured reported the accident — that's standard. The text you got was just their automated system looping you in. I made the mistake of calling them back and the adjuster was super friendly but kept asking leading questions about whether I'd 'contributed' to the situation at all. Just trust your own adjuster and let her run point.