The Truth Behind Car Insurance — Part Three
If your automobile insurance carrier sends you a denial for medical treatment that you’ve already had, or for future medical treatment, you can bring a lawsuit contesting that denial. However, that typically takes months or even years to resolve.
Should your treatment be denied, there’s also an arbitration procedure available through the American Arbitration Association (AAA), though this procedure is only available if there’s an unpaid medical bill. It is NOT available as a way to contest denials for future medical bills. What’s more, even if you contest an unpaid bill at arbitration and win, the victory is a hollow one. The insurance company is free to deny future bills which in many instances are based on the same grounds it used to deny the previous bill. In other words, having an arbitrator rule that, for example, a physical therapy bill is reasonable, necessary, and causally related to your car accident does not mean that your next physical therapy bill won’t be denied. Another bill, another arbitration!
This isn’t right. And it isn’t fair. The law must be changed to protect those who pay for car insurance — not insurers who spend millions on advertising but unfairly deny claims that they should rightfully pay. Of course, changing laws can take years. For the time being, if you have questions or need help with a car accident injury claim, or another car accident-related issue, please call or text our office at 585-475-1100.
To learn more about our car accident and personal injury attorneys, visit our website. And to read about other insurance and personal injury-related topics, please visit our blog.