If you have been in any type of accident and an insurance company asks you to sign a document that gives them access to your medical records, you may be tempted to simply go along with it. After all, it may seem like a reasonable request when the insurance company is looking at your medical records to verify a claim they should be paying.
At Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas we urge you not to sign that form until you speak to a personal injury attorney. The reality is that the insurance company is not on your side – but we are. Reach out to Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas at 909-982-0707 for your free legal consultation to find out what your options are.
The insurance company is asking for more than you think
The reality is that in most cases, the insurance company in question is not just worried about how much they should be paying you for this case. They are actually looking for ways to lower the claim or deny it outright – which could leave you without the compensation you deserve for your injuries. Do not give the insurance company more power than you need to.
What a medical records release form really says
When you sign this document, you are actually giving the insurance company – or whoever else is listed – all the permission they need to look at the entirety of your medical records. This means they can look at information not just about the recent accident in which you were injured but injuries that go back for years. They may then claim that one of your injuries was pre-existing, or that you are exaggerating your claim. It is even possible that they could find you have received help for mental health issues in the past and then try to use that to show that you are not capable of being honest about your injuries.
Consider this example: A woman is in a car accident and suffers from a brain injury. If her medical records show that she has a history of headaches, then the insurance company could try to use this information to show that her recent brain injury is not the cause of symptoms because she had symptoms in the past.
What to do if you are asked to sign the form
So what do you do if you are asked to sign the form? Ask for the form and let the insurance company know that you first need to speak to your personal injury attorney. You can then give Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas a call at 909-982-0707 and we can review it. We can discuss your rights, which include your right to privacy. You will need to turn over relevant medical records but this does not need to mean giving the insurance company access to 50 years of your medical history.
