Attorneys
Last Updated: 4/11/2025
Being involved in a car accident in Iowa can be overwhelming, stressful, and painful—both physically and emotionally. But what you do immediately after an Iowa car crash can make or break your injury claim.
Medically, you need to make sure to tell your medical providers about all your problems, go see your doctors, and do what they tell you to do. Legally, you need to make sure that you do not make a mistake (for example agreeing to give the other insurance company a recorded statement) or fail to protect your rights, here’s what every Iowan should know after being in a car accident.
Medical Issues
Step 1: Get Medical Help Right Away – Even If You Feel Fine
After a car accident in Iowa, never delay medical treatment. Even if you didn’t go to the hospital from the scene, symptoms can develop hours or even days later. If you wait too long, the insurance company may argue that you weren’t really hurt—or that something else caused your injury.
Key Tip: Visit your doctor, urgent care, or emergency room as soon as symptoms appear. Make sure everything—every ache, pain, or discomfort—is documented.
Step 2: Follow All Medical Advice and Recommendations
Your doctor may make treatment recommendations such as going to PT (physical therapy), prescribe medication for pain and muscle tension, and possibly refer you to a surgeon or pain specialist.
You must follow through with the doctor's recommendations. This way, you will hopefully find treatment that helps, but also it shows that you were really injured. Failing to follow through in the eyes of the insurance company and perhaps eventually a jury could make them think you must not be injured and do not need more medical care. Also, do not delay because gaps in treatment can be costly to your health and your case.
3. Document all your pain and problems in your medical records.
This can include taking notes of your injury problems to your appointments. Looking at your records online after the appointment, making sure they cover all your current problems. For example, if you injured your foot or leg and are having problems with your back or hips because of the different way that you are walking it is crucial that this is in your medical records.
If you do not mention your back or hip pain until months after your pain started, this can create problems. While you do not want to sound like a whiner to your doctors, you do need to be somewhat of a complainer. This way your medical problems are addressed and they are documented in your medical records. If you told your doctor about your back and hip pain, but it is not in your medical records, contact the medical provider so it can be added.
Legal Issues
1. Don't give other driver’s insurance a recorded statement.
They will tell you that they need this to evaluate your claim. In reality, they rarely need it as they have access to police reports and medical records confirming the injuries. They want the recorded statement so that they can use it against you later on.
For example, if they ask you in your recorded statement, “Have you ever had back pain before?” and you say “No”, but you have seen a chiropractor or otherwise had treatment for your back in the past, then you have just made yourself look like a liar. You may have interpreted the question as “Have you ever had back pain like this before?”, but that is not what was asked, and this can cause significant damage to your credibility and your case.
There are very few times when giving a recorded statement will help your case. The insurance adjusters are trained to ask you questions in such a way that you may damage your case because you do not understand the questions, you are on medications that make your brain foggy, and you are not prepared for the questions asked.
Almost every time, the best advice we can give you is to politely decline to give a recorded statement to the insurance company of the driver who was at fault in your car accident. If you have questions or concerns about recorded statements in your case feel free to contact one of our Iowa car accident attorneys by text, phone, or email. There is no cost, and no risk, and your information will remain confidential.
2. Make sure your medical bills are being paid!
After a car accident, many injured people think it is best to have the medical providers bill the other driver’s insurance company instead of using their own health insurance. This is a big mistake for many reasons, including that the other driver may only have the state minimum limit of $20,000, and your bills could exceed this amount, leaving you still owing money for medical bills.
If your bills go unpaid, you may start receiving collection calls, and your credit score can be damaged. Even if the insurance adjuster tells you to send them your medical bills this does not mean send me your medical bills and we will pay them. Except in cases where there is medical payment coverage in a car you were riding in, it is incredibly rare for the at-fault driver’s insurance company to pay your bills.
Why would they do this? Once again if your medical bills are not paid you may start feeling pressure to settle your case and the insurance adjuster will offer you less than the fair value because you may be desperate to keep your credit rating and want the collection calls to stop. It is best to provide your health insurance information to all your medical providers.
3. Some medical providers (often hospitals and chiropractors) will recommend you provide them with the insurance information for the other driver.
The reason that they do this is because your medical providers have a contract with your health insurance company that provides that they receive only a portion of what they bill. Therefore, they would like to receive the entire amount of the charges that they bill. One of the problems with this is that it will likely reduce the amount of compensation you will receive.
For example, let’s say the hospital bill is $25,000 and it gets submitted to the other driver’s insurance company. As we discussed above, they will likely not pay for the bill, but when it comes time to settle the hospital will file a hospital lien for the entire $25,000. If your injuries are severe enough that the other driver’s insurance company offers their policy limits of $50,000 then you will receive only $25,000 minus other subrogation interests.
Whereas, if the $25,000 hospital bill is submitted to your health insurance, they will likely only pay around $10,000 to fully pay this bill under their contract. If once again there is $50,000 in insurance coverage offered, then you would receive $40,000 (minus other subrogation interests) instead of $25,000 after you pay back your health insurance.
Yes, you do have to pay back your health insurance for what they pay because every health insurance contract has what is called “subrogation”. Depending upon the type of health insurance plan, available insurance coverages, and if you hire an attorney, the amount you must pay back your health insurance plan can be significantly less.
Getting Help From An Attorney
If you would like help right away, give us a call at 641-792-3595 as our phones are answered 24 hours per day. If an attorney is not immediately available, an appointment will be scheduled for the next business day. There is no cost or obligation to speak with one of our Iowa car accident attorneys.
If you are not ready to take the next step and contact our Iowa car accident attorneys, then you should request a copy of our Iowa Car Accident book (Click Here) that we offer at no cost because we have seen too many Iowans make costly preventable mistakes. Our book includes 7 Secrets to Not Wreck Your Claim and much more.
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