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Document, document, document

gavel-books"If it isn't documented, it didn't happen," a nurse said to me in a deposition once. Documentation is the very heart of evidence. And proof of documentation is even more important. It doesn't matter if you prepared a travel reimbursement log if you don't give it to the insurance company. And it won't matter if you can't prove you gave it to them. Because guess what? They lie.

An insurance defense attorney lie to my more than once in a case about proof she claimed she never received. She lied to my client before I entered the case. She lied to me when entered the case. She lied to the Board when I filed a motion demanding she produce the documentation. And then just weeks before the trial, she produced the documentation I had asked for. It had been in her file for almost a year.

She lost the case. I won.

So if you need to send the insurance company anything, keep proof that you sent it. If you fax it, keep a fax confirmation sheet and staple it to the fax you sent. If you mail it, send it certified mail. If you hand deliver it, demand that the secretary sign and date your copy.

Keenan Powell has more than 30 years experience fighting for the rights of injured Alaskans.

Consultations are FREE.  Call 258-7663.