ALLSTATE REFUSES TO GIVE CLAIMANT A COPY OF HER OWN MEDICAL RECORDS

In Allstate claim number:18464847xx XBC, Allstate adjuster Beau Cottrell refused to give a claimant a copy of her own medical records. The claimant was injured by an Allstate insured in an accident in July 2005. At Allstate’s request the claimant signed a medical release authorization allowing Allstate to get copies of medical records and bills related to the injuries she suffered in the accident.  When it came to try and settle her claim, Allstate claimed that information in her medical records required “further investigation” and refused to settle the claim. The claimant then submitted a written request asking Allstate to provide her with a copy of these records. Allstate refused. In a letter dated February 3, 2006, adjuster Cottrell refused to provide the claimant with copies of her own medical records claiming the records were “work product.”  The result is that now the claimant will have to spend several hundred dollars obtaining her own copies of the medical records in question. At Moore & Wolfe this is the first time we have encountered an insurance company that is not willing to give claimants a copy of medical records and bills obtained by an authorization form signed by the claimant. Most companies require the request for records to be in writing and some companies even require a nominal payment for copy costs, but most reputable insurance companies will provide copies of records to a claimant. Maybe Allstate should change their slogan from the “good hands® company” to the “not getting your records out-of-our hands company.”