What happens if I ignore the insurance doctor after my Iowa City Uber crash?

Q: What happens if I ignore the insurance doctor after my Iowa City Uber crash?

If you get this wrong, the insurer may argue you failed to cooperate, delay payment, or claim your injuries are not tied to the crash at all. The common mistake is treating the insurance company's doctor like your doctor, or going the other way and flat-out ignoring every exam request. In an Iowa rideshare crash, neither move helps much. The correct approach is to figure out whose policy is making the request. If you were a passenger in an Uber or Lyft in Iowa City, there is usually up to $1 million in liability coverage once the ride was accepted or you were in the vehicle under Iowa's transportation network company rules. But that does not automatically give the other side the right to order your medical care. A liability insurer for the Uber driver, another driver, or the rideshare company usually cannot force you to attend its doctor just because it asked. That exam is often an independent medical exam (IME) meant to challenge your treatment. If you skip it, they may complain, but they do not get magic authority. It is different if the request comes under your own policy benefits, like MedPay or UM/UIM coverage, or after a lawsuit when a court orders an exam. Then a no-show can hurt your claim. Do this instead: Keep treating with your own doctor. Ask in writing whether the exam is required by a policy provision or a court order. Get a copy of the IME report. If the IME doctor downplays your injuries, get a second opinion from a treating specialist and make sure your records explain the diagnosis, limits, and causation. That matters even more in spring pothole season around Iowa City, when insurers love to blame "preexisting back pain" or rough roads instead of the crash. Iowa generally gives you 2 years to file a personal injury lawsuit, so delays can cost you leverage fast.

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Accepted Answer

If you get this wrong, the insurer may argue you failed to cooperate, delay payment, or claim your injuries are not tied to the crash at all.

The common mistake is treating the insurance company's doctor like your doctor, or going the other way and flat-out ignoring every exam request. In an Iowa rideshare crash, neither move helps much.

The correct approach is to figure out whose policy is making the request.

If you were a passenger in an Uber or Lyft in Iowa City, there is usually up to $1 million in liability coverage once the ride was accepted or you were in the vehicle under Iowa's transportation network company rules. But that does not automatically give the other side the right to order your medical care.

A liability insurer for the Uber driver, another driver, or the rideshare company usually cannot force you to attend its doctor just because it asked. That exam is often an independent medical exam (IME) meant to challenge your treatment. If you skip it, they may complain, but they do not get magic authority.

It is different if the request comes under your own policy benefits, like MedPay or UM/UIM coverage, or after a lawsuit when a court orders an exam. Then a no-show can hurt your claim.

Do this instead:

Keep treating with your own doctor.
Ask in writing whether the exam is required by a policy provision or a court order.
Get a copy of the IME report.
If the IME doctor downplays your injuries, get a second opinion from a treating specialist and make sure your records explain the diagnosis, limits, and causation.

That matters even more in spring pothole season around Iowa City, when insurers love to blame "preexisting back pain" or rough roads instead of the crash. Iowa generally gives you 2 years to file a personal injury lawsuit, so delays can cost you leverage fast.