Chiropractors and Car Accidents

Generally, after an accident, a chiropractor’s office will contact you and advise that you need chiropractic treatment. We almost never recommend seeking treatment from a chiropractor as opposed to a primary care physician. Chiropractors usually obtain the accident report from your car accident and then solicit you for their services. Often times you are hurt, don’t have a regular doctor and with no place to go for treatment, will schedule an appointment.

Once at the chiropractor’s office, you will usually be given several documents to review and sign. We strongly advise you speak with a car accident lawyer before you sign anything at a chiropractor’s office. One of those documents will likely be an “assignment of the settlement proceeds” you receive from the insurance company. This means you are signing away the rights to some or all of your settlement! Those settlement proceeds will go towards the payment of the chiropractic bill.

Chiropractors do this because generally the chiropractor’s bill is not covered by health insurance or Medicare/Medicaid. The chiropractor’s assignment seemingly protects the chiropractor’s bill. In essence, the chiropractor will wait to try to obtain payment from you until the case is settled. Unfortunately, this can lull victims into a false sense of security that they may not be billed or have to pay for the services. Sometimes the bill can reach thousands of dollars for repeated visits. If the case is never settled, the chiropractor can sue you for the bill but often times never pursues reimbursement from you.