Why It's Important to Keep Your EOBs Handy for Your Car Accident Lawyer

If you suffer an injury from an auto accident and consequently file a medical insurance claim for compensation, you can expect your insurance company to send you health insurance explanation of benefits forms, providing details about the payments made by them towards your treatment. You should keep a copy of those forms. Your car accident lawyer can use these to build a strong case for you.

Keeping a copy of the health insurance explanation of benefits (EOB) form is important for a number of reasons. The form provides you a breakdown of the medical bills paid by your insurance company for your treatment after the accident. Your lawyer will likely want to know how much your insurance company paid on account of your treatment. Collecting the bills from your hospital is another option, but it requires you contact the hospital authority to get bills which could be a time consuming process. Moreover, you may have more than one bill from different persons. For example, there could be separate bills from your doctors, pathology labs, nurses, and emergency department and so on.

Keeping records of all the bills could be cumbersome. EOB provides you a better alternative. Once your lawyer gets the EOB, it becomes easier for him to track down all medical expenses made by your insurance company on account of your treatment. If there is something that your insurance company should pay but did not pay yet, your lawyer will know that instantly and take the necessary steps to make sure you don't miss out on what you are entitled to.

Some medical insurance policies will initially pay you for all your medical bills but require you to reimburse a portion of the payment later when you get compensation from the negligent party's insurer. If you are subscribed to such a medical insurance policy, you should keep a record all your medical bills and the amount paid by your health insurance company. This is exactly why you should keep your health insurance explanation of benefits forms handy. The form allows you and your lawyer to get details about the payments made by your insurance company. Make sure that you consult with your lawyer before making any reimbursement. Your lawyer would be able to give you the right advice about whether or not you should make the reimbursement or file a dispute.

If your auto insurance claim goes to a trial, you may need to produce the health insurance explanation of benefits form in the court as a proof of what has been paid by your insurance company. If you paid more than what your insurance company has compensated, you could be eligible to get more compensation from your insurer.

Simply put, it is a good idea to keep your EOBs handy so that you can use those later as an evidence of what your insurer paid for your treatment. It is in your best interests to speak with an experienced car accident injury attorney before making a claim or taking any legal steps against the insurance company.