If you have been injured due to someone else’s negligence, you are within your rights to file a personal injury claim to help pay for your economic and non-economic damages, including medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and more. However, you will need to prove that your injuries were caused directly by their negligence. If you can do that, you may be able to collect reimbursement for your losses from an accident. It is critical to note that in some cases, ” liens ” must be paid out of your settlement. If you have been injured in an accident due to another person’s negligence, contact a seasoned New York City Personal Injury Attorney who can help you understand your financial obligations after an accident. Please continue reading to learn what a lien in a personal injury case entails.
What is a lien on a personal injury settlement?
If you have been injured due to someone else’s negligence and received medical treatment, you may need to pay a lien after your case before you can recover compensation for your damages. A lien is a type of debt or money that must be paid out of your settlement before your award is paid out to you. Victims often have to pay leins to ensure the professionals who provided them with services due to their injuries receive payment.
Several parties can put a lien against you in a personal injury case. Healthcare providers are the most common lien source, as many injured parties do not have health insurance to cover all medical expenses from an accident. Despite not having health insurance, healthcare providers may require you to sign a lien agreement that ensures that your medical costs will be paid out of your settlement if your case is successful. This is to ensure that your debt will be paid off to them. Government-based benefit providers such as Medicaid or Medicare are familiar lien sources if one of these programs has helped pay for some or all of your medical expenses from the accident. Legally, the government must receive payment from the settlement and can use a lien to ensure they are paid from the case proceeds. Additionally, private insurance providers, such as your health insurance, may have a lien on your settlement if they cover medical costs for your injuries related to the accident.
To maximize the money you recover and protect yourself from liens, it is in your best interest to retain the legal services of a skilled New York City personal injury attorney from Swerling Law today. Our firm is committed to helping our clients secure the fair compensation they deserve.