Accident lawyers in Winter Gardens have a lot of tools they use to save Floridians' lives. Often these tools have more to do with what happens in court than outside of it, but sometimes, we don't have to wait that long. A good example is the Letter of Protection.
Let's say that you have an accident at a popular theme park, and you don't have health insurance or the savings to pay a doctor to treat your injury. Obviously, the theme park owners owe you a settlement for your accident, so you call a lawyer. The lawyer agrees to represent you, but the court date is months away, and without immediate medical attention, your injury may lead to permanent disability or even death.
Your lawyer has the option to write a Letter of Protection to your doctor. It basically says "Hey — fix this person's injury. If we win the settlement against XYZ entity, you'll get your bills paid out of the winnings. You agree, in the meantime, not to try to collect your debt until after the court case is settled." Almost any doctor will accept a Letter of Protection as a promise of future payment and do what they can to address your injury.
The catch is, of course, that if you don't win your settlement, you still end up owing the doctor the money after your court case is over — but a clever lawyer can stretch that time out a bit with an extra appeal or two, so at the minimum he can buy you time to save up enough to get a good head start on your bill.
Your lawyer may also attach certain provisos to the Letter of Protection, insisting that the doctor give testimony at your trial without charging any fees for doing so, or that the doctor provide all of the paperwork relevant to the final treatment and billing without charging copying fees.
Many doctors are willing to accept Letters of Protection even knowing that the theme park accident attorneys from Orlando will most often end up settling out-of-court — a negotiation that often involves asking the doctor to accept less than their normal bill for the services rendered. Some even anticipate this and inflate their initial bill to compensate, so don't be surprised if you get a Letter of Protection and your doctor hands you a bill that's 10%-20% larger than you would have expected.
Letters of Protection — they get you the medical care you need now rather than waiting until the damage gets even worse. That's how Floridian accident lawyers use them to save lives.
If you've been injured in an accident, find out how Florida Injury Law Firm can help you by contacting us today to schedule your free case evaluation.