If you are dealing with a car accident right now and you need a vehicle to get to work, to get your kids to school, to do anything that requires leaving your house, the rental car question is probably feeling very urgent. You have insurance. You have been paying for it. You assumed that if […]
Can an Insurance Company Send Your Medical Records to a Third-Party Reviewer
If you have filed a car accident claim and the insurance company has requested your medical records, you are probably wondering what they are actually doing with them. The short answer is yes, they can send your records to a third-party reviewer under certain circumstances, and they do it routinely. The longer answer is that […]
What Does a Car Accident Insurance Adjuster Look For in Your Medical Records
When an insurance adjuster reviews your medical records after a car accident, they are not reading them the way your doctor reads them. Your doctor is looking for clinical information that helps them treat you. The adjuster is looking for information that helps them pay you less. Those are different reading projects, and they produce […]
How to Negotiate a Higher Car Accident Settlement with Insurance
The number the insurance company gives you first is almost never the number they are willing to settle for. That is not a cynical take on the industry. It is simply how the process is structured. Adjusters are trained to open low, and they open low because a significant percentage of people accept whatever number […]
Should I Settle My Car Accident Claim Before Finishing Medical Treatment
The honest answer is almost certainly no, and the reason why is more concrete than most people expect. It is not about being cautious or patient or following legal advice in the abstract. It is about a specific mathematical problem: you cannot calculate what your damages are worth until you know what your damages are. […]
What Is a Low-Ball Settlement Offer and How Do I Fight It
A lowball settlement offer is not always easy to recognize because the number itself does not come with a label. The insurance company does not call you and say the offer is unfair. They present it as reasonable, sometimes as generous, occasionally with language suggesting it reflects everything you have been through. The number sounds […]
Who to Contact When an Insurance Company Denies Your Car Accident Claim
Getting a denial letter from an insurance company after a car accident is one of the more disorienting things that can happen to you. You were in a crash. You did everything right. You filed the claim. And now you are holding a letter that says no. The instinct for most people at that point […]
Can I Refuse to Sign a Medical Authorization Form for the Insurance Company
Yes, you can refuse. And in many situations, you should. But the more important question is what you are actually being asked to hand over when you sign one of these forms, because most people who sign them have no idea how broad they are until it is too late. The form the insurance adjuster […]
How Insurance Companies Use Injury Evaluation Software to Lowball Settlements
If you have reported a car accident injury claim to an insurance company, there is a very good chance that your injuries have already been evaluated by a computer program before a human being formed an opinion about what your case is worth. That program did not examine you. It did not read your medical […]
Should I Sign a Release of Claims If I’m Still Treating for Injuries
If someone from an insurance company has put a release of claims in front of you while you are still going to doctors, still dealing with pain, still figuring out whether you are going to need surgery or physical therapy or months of additional treatment, the short answer is no. You should not sign it. […]