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The Shoulder
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genuine-badger-079

Other driver lied about who ran the light — now my chiro is getting involved. Do I need a lawyer?

So this whole thing started as what I thought was a pretty minor fender-bender. I was driving through an intersection about two weeks ago, had a green light, and another car blew right through and clipped my passenger side pretty good. We both pulled over, checked on each other, and agreed nothing felt urgent enough to call the police. We swapped insurance cards and went on with our days.

Fast forward a few days and I find out through my insurance that the other driver is telling a completely different story — saying I'm the one who had the red. It's basically my word against theirs at this point. My insurance is apparently looking at a split-fault situation, which means I'm probably eating my deductible regardless. A friend who used to work in claims told me my rates will likely tick up no matter how this shakes out, which is frustrating.

Here's where it gets complicated: I already had a chiropractic appointment scheduled because I'd been dealing with some mild shoulder stiffness from a gym injury a few months back. I mentioned the accident to my chiropractor just as a heads-up, and the morning after the crash I had noticed this weird pins-and-needles feeling along my arm. It honestly felt more like nerves from the whole stressful situation — it was gone within 48 hours.

But now my chiropractor is saying she may need to bill through the auto insurance and wants documentation from the accident. I'm not injured (at least nothing that feels accident-related), but I'm worried this is going to spiral into a whole thing that complicates the already messy fault dispute.

Do I actually need a lawyer here, or am I overthinking it? Has anyone dealt with a pre-existing treatment situation overlapping with a crash claim?

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9 replies

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    clear-fox-559

    I had almost the exact same situation — was already seeing a physical therapist for an old sports injury when I got rear-ended. It turned out to be a huge headache because the insurance company kept trying to say everything was 'pre-existing.' If there's any chance your symptoms are even partially related to the crash, document everything now while it's fresh. I really wish I had.

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    kind-badger-246

    The moment you have a pre-existing treatment relationship with any provider, the insurance adjuster will use that to minimize or outright deny anything you claim is crash-related. They're not on your side — either side's insurer. That pins-and-needles thing you dismissed? Write it down with the date and time right now, even in your own notes app. Don't let them erase it later.

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    brave-crane-945

    I used to work claims and I'll be honest: a disputed-fault intersection accident with no police report and a claimant already in chiropractic care is exactly the profile that gets scrutinized hard. That doesn't mean you did anything wrong — it just means the file is going to get extra attention. The other driver filing a conflicting account flags it further. At minimum, talk to a PI attorney for a free consult before you say much more to either insurance company.

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    mellow-kestrel-365

    A couple of things worth knowing: (1) No police report doesn't mean no fault determination — insurers do their own investigations. (2) Your chiropractor billing through auto insurance is pretty standard, but it can open a door. The adjuster will request all your treatment records, including the stuff from before the accident. That's not automatically bad, but you want to be prepared for it. Most PI attorneys do free consultations and this seems like a situation where even one conversation could clarify a lot.

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    swift-crow-466

    Just want to flag — transient numbness or tingling after a collision, even a 'minor' one, is worth mentioning to an actual MD, not just your chiropractor. It could genuinely be nothing, adrenaline and stress do wild things to the nervous system. But it could also be a very early sign of nerve irritation from the impact. Please get it documented by a physician either way, for your own health and for your records.

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    calm-dove-358

    This is a lot to deal with on your own. I feel like the minute the other driver started lying about the light, the whole 'let it play out' approach kind of went out the window. You deserve to have someone in your corner who actually understands how this works.

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    clever-finch-965

    Not legal advice, but this is worth at least a free consult: disputed liability plus a pre-existing treatment history plus a provider who wants to bill auto insurance is genuinely more complex than it looks on the surface. A lot of people in your position assume there's nothing to 'fight' because they're not badly hurt — but protecting yourself from a bad fault finding and from having your rates hammered is a real thing. Most PI lawyers don't charge for an initial conversation.

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    patient-sparrow-607

    Short answer: yes, get a consult. It's free. You've got a he-said/she-said fault dispute with no police report and your chiro is now tangled up in it. That combination is exactly why PI attorneys exist. You don't have to hire anyone — just go hear what someone knowledgeable actually says about your specific situation before you make any decisions.

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    plain-otter-102

    I'm not dismissing your situation, but I'm curious — did you have any dashcam footage or were there any nearby traffic cameras at the intersection? Even a gas station or storefront? That kind of evidence would completely change the conversation. Without it, a he-said/she-said dispute at an intersection is genuinely hard to resolve in your favor, lawyer or not.