Should I Give The Insurance Company A Medical Records Authorization?

If you have been injured in an auto accident you will almost certainly receive a letter from the insurance company asking for permission to obtain your medical records (a "HIPPA" release). Should you allow them to have access to your medical records?

There are a couple of good things about this, and a couple of bad things about this. First, the good things:

1. If you plan on making a personal injury claim, the insurance company will want to see your medical records - this gives them that opportunity
2. The insurance company will give you copies, if you ask
3. You will be able to use the medical records without having to pay for them (they are free!)

Now, the bad:

1. The insurance company may go through your records and try to find some unrelated injury - and blame your current injuries on that old injury
2. If there are errors in the medical records, you will not be able to ask that the provider make corrections until after the insurer has already seen it. Then it will be more difficult to convince the insurance company that your claim is legitimate. You can't unring a bell.
3. You lose control over the flow of information - one thing attorneys hate!

Overall, there are good and bad things about letting the insurance company access your medical records My practice is to (almost always) collect the records myself and then share those with the insurance company that are related to the car accident and my client's injuries.

Pete Clancy is a personal injury attorney with offices in Oakland and Berkeley He was named a "Rising Star" by SuperLawyers Magazine in 2010, 2011 and 2012, and is a life member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum.