[MRM]

They increase you rates because you were in a rear end accident. That has nothing to do with whether the company gets sued or decides to hire a defense lawyer. The underwriting decision was made on your rates the second the information that there was an accident hit the company.

They don't need to record your statement because the insurance company has access to you. They can call you and ask for clarification any time. Notes taken by the adjuster probably aren't discoverable. A recorded interview with you admitting to a rear end accident probably would be. I used to go balistic when Claims decided to record the insured's statement when we had a likely liability accident. Why do you want to go out of your way to create discoverable evidence that will do nothing but lock your insured into liability? You only record statements when you are afraid the story might change or be forgotten, you don't have access to the witness, or you're afraid the witness might disapear - and the information assists your position or is important for evaluating the claim.

The issue for your company, and any defense they make, is damages. Are the passengers really hurt? They were in a decent impact so they get a checkup and maybe a followup no matter what. Your company's on the hook for that. That's what you have insurance for. Whether they make an injury claim from there will tell the insurer how hard to defend.