Don’t Let Adjusters Reduce Your Settlement With Fault-Sharing Tactics
When the Blame Game Costs You Thousands
You’ve been in a car crash in Tempe. You’re injured, shaken, and overwhelmed with medical bills. Then comes the phone call from the insurance adjuster—friendly at first, asking a few “routine” questions. But behind the small talk is a carefully calculated goal: get you to share fault, even just a little, so they can reduce what they owe you.
It doesn’t take much. One misinterpreted statement. One photo. One hesitation in how you describe the crash. Suddenly, you’re assigned 20% of the blame—or worse. That means 20% less compensation in your pocket, no matter how serious your injuries are.
If you’re navigating this process after a collision near Broadway and Mill, Apache and Rural, or anywhere else in Tempe, don’t go in blind. Understanding the tricks adjusters use to shift blame is critical. And having an experienced Tempe accident legal advocate on your side could be the only thing standing between you and a drastically reduced settlement.
The Power of Arizona’s Comparative Negligence Law
Here’s why fault matters so much: Arizona follows a pure comparative negligence system. This means:
You can still recover damages even if you’re partially at fault
Your final compensation is reduced by your assigned percentage of fault
Let’s say you’re awarded $100,000 but the insurance company convinces everyone you were 30% responsible. You walk away with only $70,000.
This law is supposed to create fairness. In reality, it gives insurance companies endless opportunities to chip away at your recovery by shifting even the slightest percentage of blame to you.
How Adjusters Trick You Into Sharing Fault
They aren’t going to accuse you outright. Instead, they’ll gently lead you into admitting uncertainty, doubt, or self-blame. Here’s how they do it:
They’ll ask:
“Was there anything you could’ve done differently?”
“Were you in a hurry that day?”
“Do you remember if you checked your mirrors?”
Even if the other driver was obviously negligent—say they ran a red light or were texting—your answers can be twisted into admissions of partial fault. In cases like distracted driving crashes or rideshare accidents, adjusters will dive into the gray areas to find anything they can use against you.
They’ll also mischaracterize silence as agreement. If you don’t push back when they “suggest” you weren’t fully alert, they may claim you tacitly accepted fault.
Where Tempe Drivers Are Most Vulnerable
Some areas in Tempe naturally produce more complex crashes—giving adjusters even more opportunities to manipulate fault.
Rural Rd & University Dr: Fast traffic, frequent lane changes, and busy crosswalks
Parking lots near Escalante or Meyer Park: Lack of signage and unclear right-of-way
T-bone intersections like Mill & Southern: Conflicting witness accounts and unclear turning laws
If your crash occurred in any of these zones, adjusters may argue visibility was poor or that both drivers contributed to the outcome—even in pedestrian collisions or parking lot accidents, where fault can seem obvious at first.
Fault-Sharing in Serious Injury Cases
The stakes are even higher when your injuries are long-term. In cases involving:
Emotional trauma
...insurance companies know the financial exposure is significant. That’s when they push hardest to assign even small percentages of fault—because it saves them tens of thousands on high-dollar claims.
For example, in a $300,000 TBI claim, a 15% fault share means a $45,000 reduction to your recovery. All from one offhand comment or vague memory.
How to Push Back—and Win
Here’s how to stay ahead of the adjuster’s game:
Say as little as possible to the insurer after the crash. Direct all communication through a legal representative.
Don’t speculate about what happened. Stick to facts.
Document everything: medical visits, police reports, photos from the scene, and witness information.
Don’t post on social media. Adjusters monitor public content to find contradictions or minimize your injuries.
Contact an attorney early. The sooner someone steps in to handle the narrative, the harder it is for insurers to shift blame.
In some cases, it may also help to request surveillance footage—especially if your crash happened in areas with cameras like Downtown Tempe or around Tempe High School. When supported by evidence, your case becomes far less flexible for fault manipulation.
You Still Have Rights—Even With Partial Fault
Arizona law doesn’t require perfection. Even if you were 10%, 30%, or even 50% at fault, you can still recover compensation—but only if your case is presented clearly, accurately, and without room for misinterpretation.
That’s especially important in multi-vehicle pileups, hit-and-run crashes, or incidents involving uninsured drivers, where responsibility may seem muddled at first glance.
The law allows shared fault. What it doesn’t allow is being steamrolled into accepting blame you don’t deserve.
Don’t Settle for Less Because of Adjuster Games
The goal of fault-sharing tactics is simple: lower your settlement. But knowing how these strategies work—and stopping them early—can protect your rights and secure the compensation you need to move forward.
If your crash happened in Holdeman, North Tempe, or even on the freeway passing through South Tempe, you deserve a fair and accurate assessment of fault. Not a lowball offer based on wordplay.
Start with a legal team that knows the local roads, knows how adjusters operate, and knows how to push back hard.
Talk to a Tempe car accident attorney today and take control of your claim—before someone else does it for you.
