A letter of protection is a letter your personal injury attorney sends to a medical professional if you’ve been injured in an accident. You will likely have co-payments or deductibles you need to pay under your health insurance policy, or you may not even have health insurance at all. Using a letter of protection, our office helps you avoid harassment on the part of your creditors.
The letter acts as a promise to pay the outstanding medical bill out of any recovery you obtain from the at-fault driver (or his or her insurance company) at the end of the case. Many medical providers will accept these letters of protection, which can make them an important means of protecting your own finances when you have medical bills piling up and a lack of income coming in from work while you’re recovering.
This is a different legal tool than advance settlement funding, as there is no exchange of money. It’s simply a promise of payment that the attorney is obligated to honor upon the completion of the case.
When you need a letter of protection
A common scenario in which a letter of protection is useful occurs when medical bills stemming from car accident injuries exceed the amount of your auto insurance medical payment coverage and you do not have health insurance to cover the rest of the bills.
Another example would be a case in which your accident was not a motor vehicle accident, and so your car insurance coverage is irrelevant. This could happen in a premises liability or products liability case. In this situation, there is little chance you would be able to cover your medical expenses without a letter of protection to shield you from taking that financial blow.
To learn more about letters of protection and their benefits related to personal injury cases, meet with a skilled West Virginia personal injury lawyer at Prim Law Firm, PLLC. Call the firm at [ln::phone] or contact us online to schedule a free initial consultation.
