A personal injury settlement or award allows you to recover damages related to your accident. Before that, however, you need to get medical treatment to overcome your injuries. A letter of protection can help you get the treatment you need.

Meaning and Guarantee

A letter of protection is a form that promises your medical provider that they will receive their pay once your case concludes. The letter of protection is a legally binding contract that the medical provider can enforce via court actions.

The letter of protection does not guarantee that the insurance company or defendant will pay the medical provider. Rather, the letter guarantees that a portion of your settlement or award will go to the medical provider if you win your case or get a favorable judgment. The defendant or their insurance company is not part of the deal.

Why You May Need It

Medical treatment for auto accident injuries can be expensive. Ideally, the liable party should pay for your treatment, but this will only happen once you settle or win your case. Personal injury cases can take a long time, even months or years.

Many accident victims cannot wait that long for treatment. A letter of protection allows you to get the treatment you need before your case concludes without paying upfront money.

Your Responsibility

The onus is always on you to settle medical bills when seeking medical services. The responsibility holds whether you win your auto accident case or not. Therefore, your medical provider expects you to find another way to settle your bills if you lose your injury case. Your medical provider can even go to court to use your financial assets to settle the debt.

Precautions

From the above discussions, it's clear that letters of protection have great benefits because they allow injury victims to get timely treatments, but you should tread carefully before getting one. Otherwise, you might be thousands of dollars in debt if you lose your case after using a letter of protection to get treatment.

Work with your attorney to decide whether a letter of protection is wise for your case. Consider a letter of protection only if you have a strong case and a high chance of winning. Depending on your state laws, your lawyer may also include clauses excluding some forms of debt collection methods if you don't win your case. Such clauses may help you protect your financial assets.

For more info, contact a local firm like Labine Law Firm.