Should I sign the papers my insurance company asks me to sign after I am injured?

Mitchell Horwitz, a principal partner and head of the workers’ compensation department at Horwitz Horwitz & Associates answers a listener’s question on Free Legal Advice Friday’s:

Should I sign the papers the insurance company asks me to sign after I am injured?

It is our recommendation that you should not sign any papers that an insurance gives you without consulting an attorney.

After you are hurt at work, the insurance company will supply you with a release so that they can speak with any doctor you’ve ever seen from birth until now – any hospitals, any records, they can talk to any physician – and there is no reason to provide them with a general release that allows them to speak to doctors that did not treat you for the injury.
In fact, there is no reason to allow them speak to any doctor period. They have no right to speak to a doctor.
What the employer does a right to is to see your medical records following an injury. What we allow and what we provide to employers are medical records or releases so that they can see the medical records for the injury suffered by the injured worker. That is what they are entitled to see, so that is what we supply them.
What you will receive from the insurance company is a release to allow them to speak to your doctor, which is not allowed in our view and you should not permit.Mitchell W. Horwitz answers the Free Legal Advice Friday listener’s question: should I sign the papers the insurance company asks me to sign after I am injured?

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