People
who call often ask, “When I make a claim for injuries, do I have to sign a
medical authorization?” This is an
excellent question, because we all value our privacy and don’t like the idea of
other people nosing around in our medical history. We may think that the insurance company has
no business looking into any of our medical records except what is directly
related to the injury you want to sue for.
The fact
is, however, that when you make a claim to recover for an injury caused by
someone else’s fault, you open yourself up to a pretty unlimited examination of
your medical records for the past ten years or more.
The
reason for this is that the insurance company only has to pay for injuries
caused directly by the accident, so if you had some previous injury or
condition which might aggravate your injury or cause you to suffer more, then
the insurance company is entitled to find out about this. There may be nothing at all in your history
which has anything to do with your injury, but the only way that the insurance
company can be sure of this is to look at all of your medical records. For this reason, when you make a claim, the
insurance company is sure to demand all of your medical records before they
will be willing to pay you anything for your injury.
Unfortunately
sacrificing your privacy is one of the costs of getting paid compensation for
an injury. If you have questions about
injury claims, please call us at 1-800-999-LEGAL(5342) or contact us on our web
site, www.lowrylaw.com.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteThe reason for this is that the insurance company only has to pay for injuries caused directly by the accident, so if you had some previous injury or condition which might aggravate your injury or cause you to suffer more, then the insurance company is entitled to find out about this.
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