Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

Generally speaking it's not a good idea to release private information -- whether medical, employment, education, or otherwise. Here are some reasons:

(1) The more information the insurance company has, the more likely they will find something in those records to use against you in denying your claim.

(2) The authorization form is drafted by the insurance company.

(3) The authorization form probably does not contain sufficient restrictions on "scope" (time, type, issue, etc.). In other words, the authorization form could be so broad in scope that it could scoop up all your medical records for all time, for all areas of your body, and for all medical treatment -- regardless of whether it's related (or not) to the injury accident.

This should give you a glimpse of some of the many risks that you may face when dealing with an insurance company. Best of luck to you!

It depends on what records they want. If they want records related to the accident that prove that your injuries were caused by that accident, then they would be entitled to those in discovery in a civil lawsuit. On the other hand, if they want past records that have no relation to the accident at all, then those may be protected by your right to privacy.