If you are severely injured in a Florida car crash, your $10,000 Personal Injury Protection (PIP) policy will likely be exhausted after a single trip to the emergency room. If you do not have private health insurance—or if your health insurance provider refuses to pay because a third party caused the accident—you might assume you cannot afford the surgeries or physical therapy you desperately need. This is where a Florida Letter of Protection (LOP) becomes your financial lifeline. Understanding how to use an LOP is essential to protecting both your physical health and your settlement value.
What is a Letter of Protection?
A Letter of Protection is a legally binding contract drafted by your personal injury attorney and signed by you, your lawyer, and your medical provider. In this agreement, the doctor or hospital agrees to provide you with necessary medical treatment immediately, without requiring any out-of-pocket copays or deductibles.
In exchange, you and your attorney guarantee that the medical provider will be paid directly out of the proceeds of your future personal injury settlement or jury verdict. Essentially, the medical provider is treating you on credit, using your pending lawsuit as collateral.
The Strategic Advantage of an LOP
Using an LOP provides several massive advantages for Florida accident victims:
- Uninterrupted Care: You can see top-tier orthopedic surgeons, neurologists, and physical therapists who might otherwise refuse uninsured patients.
- Credit Protection: Because the doctor agrees to wait for the settlement, your medical bills will not be sent to aggressive debt collection agencies, protecting your credit score while you heal.
- Building Your Case: Consistent medical treatment is the foundation of a high-value injury claim. If you stop seeing a doctor because you can’t afford it, the insurance adjuster will argue that you are “fully healed” and deny your claim. An LOP ensures a continuous, well-documented medical record.
The Risks You Must Know
While an LOP is incredibly useful, it is not a “free pass.” If your attorney loses your case, or if you are found to be 51% at fault under Florida’s Modified Comparative Negligence law and receive nothing, the LOP does not magically disappear. You are still legally and personally responsible for paying the entire medical bill out of your own pocket.
Furthermore, insurance defense lawyers frequently attack LOPs in court. They will argue that the doctor is inflating their bills or providing unnecessary treatment simply because they have a financial stake in the outcome of your lawsuit. To ensure your potential payout is large enough to cover these deferred medical costs, always calculate your case’s estimated worth using the Florida Injury Value Calculator before signing any financial agreements.