What is a Letter of Protection in Florida
In Florida, you can use a letter of protection (LOP) to form an agreement between you and your medical provider that ensures you get medical treatment while you anticipate getting settlement awards. This can be a beneficial option if you are currently unable to pay for your medical expenses.
A personal injury lawyer from Distasio Law Firm can help you send a Letter of Protection to your medical provider. We believe wholeheartedly that it is unfair for people facing financial hardship to have to choose between seeking medical care or not.
Letter of Protection Florida
Good personal injury attorneys know there is an option called a LETTER OF PROTECTION (LOP for short). An LOP can be issued by a personal injury lawyer, with your approval, to a medical provider willing to take one. This is a legal document that guarantees the provider will receive payment out of any personal injury recovery obtained on the injured party’s behalf. In exchange for a guarantee of payment out of any personal injury recovery, the provider agrees to wait for payment until the personal injury claim is over. The medical provider also agrees not to turn your account over to a collection agency for the unpaid balance while your case is still ongoing.
If the personal injury claim resolves without a recovery, the injured person still owes the money at the end of the case. This can be a big financial hardship. However, at least the person got the care they needed. In addition, although the medical provider has the right to get paid, the injured person in this circumstance probably cannot afford to pay. As a result, the medical provider often writes off the bill.
Of course, not every medical provider is willing to take an LOP because they risk not getting paid if a recovery is not obtained in the personal injury case. However, the medical providers willing to take them do so because they can charge more than they can charge private health insurance. The higher charges on the cases they get paid on makes up for the ones that they do not get paid on.
An LOP can often be the difference is getting needed medical care after an auto accident. For that reason, a good personal injury attorney has relationships with medical providers willing to take them.
Insurance companies might try to avoid covering your medical treatment
When people get injured by a negligent party, they can file an insurance claim to pursue compensation for their medical expenses. However, in many cases, insurance companies will be hesitant to accept financial liability for an individual’s medical treatment for their injuries and may attempt to place liability elsewhere.
For some examples:
- If you were injured on the job, your insurer might claim that the employer’s workers’ compensation insurance is liable for covering your medical treatment.
- If you were in an automobile accident, your insurer might claim that the at-fault driver’s insurance company is liable for covering your medical expenses.
- If you were injured during a slip and fall accident at a restaurant, your insurer might claim that the restaurant’s business insurance is liable for your medical treatment.
While you might pursue compensation through the liable party’s insurer, the point would still remain that you require medical care for your current injuries. By filing a letter of protection, you may be able to receive this treatment until you can receive awards from a settlement or court sentence.
Why might you need a letter of protection?
As previously stated, health insurance companies may often want to refuse to pay your medical bills, especially if your injuries are due to the negligence or destructive nature of another person. Instead of helping you as they should, they would rather want you to seek out compensation from the other individual’s insurance carrier since they were the party at fault.
However, this situation can quickly become more stressful because most insurance companies are not willing to immediately pay your medical bills and expenses. Rather, and in a manner that puts more pressure on you, they insist that you pay your bills completely out of pocket, after which you would submit your bills to them, and they would decide whether or not (or how much) they would pay.
Our personal injury team can send a letter of protection for you
An alternative means of getting the medical care you need after an accident is through a letter of protection.
With a letter of protection, which can be submitted by your attorney, you are essentially making an agreement with your doctor or medical provider. This agreement involves:
- The doctor will provide medical care to you despite not seeing immediate payment for their services.
- You will pursue compensation through a lawsuit to receive a settlement or court sentence.
- Once your trial is won or your settlement is completed, the doctor or medical provider will receive compensation for the money you won.
Unfortunately, if the injured person does not agree to a settlement or loses the case, they will have to pay the doctor the medical expenses they owe on their own. However, our legal team at Distasio Law Firm can help you build a solid case against the liable party. Our personal injury lawyers in Florida can fight for the compensation you need, including awards to cover the medical costs you’re facing.
What are the benefits of a letter of protection?
Dealing with insurance companies, whether health or auto insurance companies, can be a frustrating process when all you want is for someone to pay what they rightfully owe.
Especially when you are worried about medical expenses and living with the pain from your injuries, all you want is a person who understands your predicament and is willing to show some flexibility and compassion.
Because of how difficult insurance companies can be, sometimes filing a letter of protection in your personal injury claim can put you in an even better position.
As opposed to the stringent rules by which the insurance company abides, a letter of protection is an agreement written up by your attorney between you and your health care provider. Therefore, if amendments to any clauses or sections need to be made or agreement terms need to be modified, they can be done so in a way that works for both parties. Our lawyers can handle these modifications if necessary.
Billing hassles that are often experienced while dealing with larger insurance companies can also be avoided with letters of protection. Also, while you are focused on settling your case or winning it at trial, you do not have to worry about collection agencies banging on your door.
What if you are the provider seeking your payment for services?
If you are a doctor or other medical provider, you may find yourself on the other side of this situation. You may be the one seeking payment for the medical services you provided to the patient awaiting settlement or trial for their personal injury case.
After all, just like the patient, you also need your money to pay your employees and cover the cost of the treatment you gave. You may want to know in greater detail how and when you will get paid.
Our lawyers will work out an agreement to pay the medical providers
Rather than depending on our clients to work out and settle their medical expenses with their providers, our team will take that responsibility into our own hands by paying providers through a reduction from the settlement or verdict that is reached.
We will put this into writing as an official document to protect our client so that you, the provider, cannot attempt to seek further compensation in the future.
Call a Tampa personal injury attorney today for a letter of protection
If you were injured in an accident in Tampa, FL, and have insufficient insurance to cover your medical bills, contact the personal injury attorneys at Distasio Law Firm. We have spent years helping clients who were injured because of a negligent party, and we know the stress you can experience when you do not have health insurance yet require medical care.
No matter what kind of situation you are in, we can help you receive the compensation you deserve and protect your affairs from the insurance company. Call Distasio Law Firm today and let our compassionate personal injury attorneys fight for you.
As an ethical and trusted Tampa personal injury lawyer, Scott Distasio founded Distasio Law Firm in February of 2006, which focuses on all types of personal injury cases. He wanted to open a law firm that represented his belief that all firms should provide ethical and outstanding service to their clients.
