After Crash CompassEssential guide
The mail usually arrives before the answers do. This independent guide explains what common documents generally are, how to check them against official records, and who to ask about your own claim.
Start with the printable checklist →Independent · No accounts · No uploads · Reviewed September 2026
Timelines differ by state, by insurer and by whether anyone was treated at a hospital. This is the common shape of it, not a rule you can rely on for your own claim.
After Crash Compass is an independent reading room. There are no accounts, no forms, no uploads and nothing to buy. We take no money from law firms, insurers, medical providers or notice services, and we do not pass your details to anyone — because we never collect them. Every factual claim on the site points to the agency, statute or company statement it came from.
We also expect you to read more than one source. Our further reading list collects the outside explainers we use ourselves — federal agencies, state regulators, nonprofits and legal publishers — with a note on who funds each one, so you can weigh them yourself.
Receiving a document does not establish that its contents are accurate or that you owe the sender anything. Authenticity is something you check against an official record or your own insurer — not something the letter can settle by itself.
A medical lien is typically a claim on a future settlement or judgment, asserted so a provider gets paid from it. That is different from a bill due today and different from a debt in collections.
Hospital-lien statutes, deadlines and recording requirements are set state by state, and health-plan reimbursement rights depend on the type of coverage. Any answer that ignores your state is incomplete.
Envelopes, dates received, phone notes with names. It costs nothing now and is the difference between a clear timeline and a guess later.