We are asked to attend an examination under oath, please help on how this work?

Question

We got a letter three weeks ago, to attend an examination under oath. It didn't give any date or time or whom it's with. We have email the insurance company to set up the date, he respone saying the attorney will contact us sometime this week. It's now been two weeks out. we still haven't hear from them. Our house got burn in a fire, it's a total lost. The insurance did paid for the rebuilding of the house, they also paid the the first inventories lost. Which was our garage, which was save by the fire. so, they paid for that. but, we had sent in the second inventories lists in 4 months ago. Now we are asked to attend an examination under oath? Any advise on how all this work?

thanks you

Answer 1

Well, you are in a heap of trouble if they have demanded an Examination Under Oath. They probably have information that leads them to believe that you inflated the value or lied about part of your claim.

In house fires, EVERYBODY lies about what they had for personal property and the value of that property. So the company may suspect something like that or they may think that you set the fire.

I'm surprised they have paid as much of the claim as you state they have, before doing the Examination Under Oath.

I have watched many EUO's and it's not pretty. I suggest you bring two things. 1) a box of kleenex and 2) a lawyer.

Good Luck

Answer 2

Typically during the investigation of a claim the insurance adjuster will take a recorded statement.  This is done to secure the facts of loss and as a fact finding mission.  Most of the time these are not used at trial since most attorney's will take their own depositions. They may review them as a means of gathering ideas about your testimony and find holes in yor story.

The EUA is a more formal fact finding mission and can and will be used for any type of trial.  It is done by the attorney's for the insurance company and similar to a deposition.  The big difference between a EUA and DEPOSITION is the deposition is in response to a lawsuit.  They will have a court reporter there and you will have to swear that your testimony is true and accurate.  I have some concerns about your case that they would be doing a EUA this late.  It appears something you may have provided them might be fraudulant and give them grounds to deny the claim/policy.

Answer 3

An examination under oath is one of the most powerful tools in an inusrance carrier's arsenal. It is a way to investigate claims by forcing the policyholder/claimant to answer questions - if you don't show or choose not to answer a question, they can turn you down. If you do show (without a lawyer) the carrier through their counsel will ask whatever questions they feel are pertinent to their investigation of the claim.

The problem with EUOs is that most people don't know when the insurance carrier has crossed the line and asked inappropriate questions. And they do. If the claim is worth pursuing, you should bring an attorney with you who will know whether the question is inappropriate.

Keep this in mind, even if you are telling the truth and have done nothing wrong, the carrier can still attempt to explore areas that are none of its business or ask questions that would not be proper in a court of law. Think of the questions like - do you still cheat on your taxes? Assuming that you don't cheat, the question can't be answered - saying yes is incorrect and saying no would be like saying that you used to, but don't anymore. Without a lawyer to force the carrier to ask proper questions, you can find yourself tied up in red tape for months with no hope of ever seeing your claim paid.

Bottom line - speak to an attorney and bring the attorney with you to the EUO

Answer 4

Obviously, the insurer is investigating your claims.