This article is designed to inform people injured in car accidents or attacked by a dog about the ways that insurance compnies will attempt to gain access to their entire medical history by getting them to sign Medical Authorizations or Releases.
If you have been injured in a car accident or bitten/attacked by a dog in Virginia, then you must read this article before you sign any documents for an insurance company.
I used to work exclusively for insurance companies and I know that this information will help "level the playing field" by giving you the knoweldge you will need to more effectively battle the insurance company you are facing!
So let's get started...
During the first conversation you have with an insurance professional for the driver of the vehicle that hit you or the owner of the dog that hurt you, you will very likely be asked to sign a Medical Authorization or Release, which will allow that insurance company to go to your doctors, dentists, hospitals, etc., and get every piece of medical information in their files.
However, the insurance adjuster will phrase his request like this: "We need you to sign this document so that we can keep track of your medical treatment and keep enough money in reserve to make sure that we can pay your claim."
(While it is true that insurance companies are under certain requirements to keep adequate "monetary reserves" to cover existing claims, you can be sure of two things: 1) the adjuster has no intention of paying you those "reserves" voluntarily; and 2) he wants that signed "Medical Authorization" to find evidence to help him deny your claim.)
The insurance adjuster will lead you to believe that he will be gathering records related to the injuries you sustained in the accident at issue, but he will also be looking through as much of your medical history as possible to find notations of prior similar injuries or other accidents.
One of the insurance industry's favorite tactics in denying or minimizing personal injury claims is to point to other accidents or injuries you have sustained in the past as being the cause of your current medical treatment.
The insurance professionals opposing you in this process are trained investigators who know how to read medical records and they will search as far and as wide as possible to find any record of treatment you underwent in the past.
They will also go to any length in their attempts to link unrelated prior injuries to your current situation.
For example, I recall a case in which the insurance adjuster asked a nice lady if she had ever experienced back pain before the accident and the lady replied that she had not.
The insurance adjuster then refused to offer this lady a fair settlement because the adjuster had found evidence of prior complaints of back pain in the lady's medical records related to her past pregnancy!
Remember, the adjusters will use these Medical Authorizations or Releases to review every bit of your medical history, including gynecological and psychological records.
Nothing is off limits if you sign away your rights to keep your medical history private!
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