One of the common questions I get is “Should I sign the medical records release the insurance company sent me?”

We find that often these releases are too broad and allows the insurance company too much lattitude to look into your medical records and history. Often the insurance company is going to go through your records and then order even more, so they might have 10 to 15 years of your private records without you ever knowing. Sometimes the medical records have mistakes in them (what am I saying, I mean often the medical records will have mistakes in them) so you will want to know that before someone else sees them and contact the provider to fix the record.

Remember, they aren’t going to pay your medical bills as you go along. They don’t want to help you get more treatment so that you can make a larger claim against them, so they are going to force you to treat without their help, so why should you give them any leverage to lower the value of your claim? Remember that insurance adjuster you are “working with” at the insurance company is likely the same person who is going to try chisel your case and pay as little as possible. Is that fair? No, but the insurance company only cares about keeping its expenses low, and that means paying you as little as it can get away with, regardless of how much you are entitled to.

When the insurance company sends you the medical release, they might also slip in another form – a release. They may send you a check with it. Just know that once you sign a general release, that’s it. If you need care later or if there’s some undiscovered injury and you need an operation or something else further down the line, the insurance company is not going to pay for it.

We suggest you get your own records and make sure they’re accurate and then send those to the insurance company.

I’m sure you have questions about where to start. That’s not a bad thing; in fact, you’re in a great position now that you came by and read this article. I want to share with you some priceless FREE information.

You can order our free consumer guide “The Seven Deadly Sins That Can Wreck Your Injury Claim” to learn more about personal injury claims in Texas.

If you have a question for Andrew, you can submit it confidentially online.