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Interpreters for Insurance Claim Statements

After a car accident, a fire, a theft or an injury, an adjuster will usually want to hear what happened, often in a recorded call, sometimes in a sworn examination. When the person giving the statement does not speak English well, the recording that the claim is decided on is the interpreter's English. Here is who arranges the interpreter, what goes wrong, and how to run the statement.

Who arranges the interpreter

There is no general rule we can point to that makes an insurer provide an interpreter for a recorded statement, so this is about practice. An adjuster who knows the person has limited English may bring an interpreter onto the call, and you can ask for one before you start. You can also arrange your own: a policyholder or claimant who wants an interpreter they chose, an attorney preparing a client, or a public adjuster handling a property claim. Insurers, their special investigation units and their counsel book interpreters too, for statements and for examinations under oath.

An examination under oath is a different thing from a recorded call. A policy can require it: the New York standard fire policy, for example, obliges the insured to submit to examinations under oath by anyone the company names and to sign them (NY Insurance Law § 3404). That is sworn testimony, often before a court reporter, with a transcript the insured signs afterward — closer to a deposition than to a phone call, and worth an interpreter both sides can rely on. Whether you must give a statement at all, and to whom, depends on your policy and your state; that is a question for your attorney, not for us.

What a statement asks of an interpreter

A recorded statement is a structured interview, usually by phone: identity and policy details, then the sequence of events, then damage or injuries, prior claims and prior injuries. It is consecutive interpreting over a three-way call, and the adjuster's recording, notes or transcript capture the interpreter's English. An examination under oath runs longer, sometimes most of a day, with an attorney asking the questions, a court reporter taking down the English, and documents put in front of the witness to identify.

What decides claims is detail: the speed, the distance, the lane, which car was turning, left or right, the time of day, the amount paid for each item, the date the leak started. Dates are a trap of their own, since many countries write the day before the month, and so are amounts mentioned in another currency. The interpreter renders numbers exactly as said and keeps uncertainty where the speaker expressed it: "I think it was around six" is not "it was six."

What goes wrong

• A relative interprets. In an accident they were often a passenger or a witness, with their own account; on the recording, nobody can tell whose version is whose.
• The statement is given in English by someone who manages in English day to day but not under questioning. Partial answers on the record are harder to correct later than to avoid.
• The interpreter summarizes. A long answer reduced to one English sentence loses exactly the qualifications that matter.
• Nobody corrects mistakes on the call. If something was misunderstood, the time to fix it is right then, on the recording.
• No copy is requested. Ask before the statement whether you will receive the recording or transcript; with an examination under oath you sign the transcript, so read it with an interpreter before you do.

Running the statement through an interpreter

• Agree who dials whom and test the three-way connection first; a dropped interpreter mid-statement leaves gaps in the recording.
• Identify the interpreter on the record at the start: name, language, and that everything will be interpreted in the first person.
• Short questions, one at a time, and the speaker answers in their own language throughout.
• The interpreter asks for clarification openly — on the recording — rather than guessing at a word, a place name or a number.
• Send the interpreter what they need in advance: the claim type, the police report or loss description, photos or a diagram for an accident, a list of items for a theft or fire.

Booking an interpreter for a statement

A recorded statement by phone or video is $80 an hour per interpreter with a one-hour minimum, and most fit in the first hour. An examination under oath in person is $110 an hour with a two-hour minimum: three hours is $330, plus travel at $0.70 per mile from the interpreter's location — a 20-mile round trip is $14. A full-day examination may need two interpreters in relay. Time is billed from the scheduled start, so set the call for a time everyone can keep.

Send with the request: whether it is a recorded statement or an examination under oath, the type of claim, the language and the speaker's country or region, the date, time and phone or video platform, who will be on the call, and any documents to be discussed. Police reports, estimates, medical bills and letters from the insurer that need to be read in writing are a separate translation service, quoted per page.

By video, by phone or in person

Virtual interpreting runs on Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams, or over the telephone. It is quicker to arrange, costs less and carries no travel charge, and it suits appointments, calls and most meetings.

In person is what venues with their own rules tend to expect, and the right choice when documents are being signed or several people are speaking at once. Tell us the platform, or the city and the venue, when you send the request.

Languages

The standard-availability languages are: Spanish, Portuguese, French, Mandarin, Cantonese, Arabic, Russian, Korean, Vietnamese, Haitian Creole, Polish, Italian, German, Japanese, Hindi, Urdu, Persian, Turkish, Ukrainian, Tagalog, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati, Tamil, Armenian, Greek, Hebrew, Romanian, Serbian, Bosnian, Somali and Nepali. Every other language we offer carries the 25–30% limited-availability rate. If a language is not on that list it is not because we cannot do it — it is because the pool of qualified interpreters in the United States is small enough that we will not promise a date without checking.

Each language has its own page on what to watch for — dialects, names, dates, who the speakers usually are: see interpreters by language.

What it costs

Rates are per interpreter, per hour, and billed from the scheduled start time rather than from when everyone actually arrives.

• Virtual — $80 per hour, one-hour minimum. Zoom, Google Meet, Teams or telephone.
• In person — $110 per hour, two-hour minimum.
• Limited-availability languages — add 25–30%. Which languages those are is listed below rather than left vague.
• Travel for in-person work — $0.70 per mile from the interpreter's location.

How the travel charge works out

Travel is charged at $0.70 per mile from the interpreter's location, which means you can work it out rather than wait for a quote: a 20-mile round trip is $14, a 60-mile round trip is $42, a 150-mile round trip is $105. There is no separate call-out fee on top.

We will not pretend to know in advance where the interpreter will be coming from — that depends on the language, the date and the venue. What we do is confirm the interpreter and the exact travel figure before you book, so it is never a surprise on the invoice. Virtual assignments carry no travel charge at all, which is one reason most of what we do is virtual.

How booking an interpreter works

• You send the request with the form below: the language, the setting, the format, the date and how long it should last.
• We confirm before you commit: the interpreter, the exact price and the travel figure if there is one. We reply the same business day, and no payment is taken at this stage.
• You confirm, and the interpreter is booked for your date.

What to have ready

The more of this comes in the first message, the fewer exchanges before you have a price:

• The language, the date, the start time and how long it should run.
• Virtual or in person: the platform, or the city and the venue.
• The setting and the subject matter.
• How many people need interpreting for.
• Any credential the venue requires of the interpreter.

Request an interpreter

Tell us the date, the language and the setting and we will come back with the interpreter, the exact price and the travel figure if there is one — before you commit to anything.

Sources

What this page says about the rules was checked against these official sources on October 21, 2026. Rules change; the source is always the authority.

• New York State Senate — New York Insurance Law § 3404, Fire insurance; standard policy provisions (examinations under oath)

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