Legal Question in Personal Injury in Georgia
I was in a car accident back in 2005 and my case has just got settled. I received the settlement statement from my lawyers office it showed that i had a hospital bill in the amount of 1738.45 which was reduced to 1390.0, what i would like to ask you is do i have the option of paying out of pocket after recieving the proceeds from the settlement to the hospital myself instead of my lawyers office taking the money out their self and paying the bill? i have not yet signed the documents for the settlement because in the settlement statement it states as follows: Less Medical Bill/Liens (payment required/authorized by client) such in such hospital (reduced 1,738.45) chiropratic (reduced from 2,790.00) and then it states this CLIENT'S AGREENMENT REGARDING SETTLEMENT, DISBURSEMENT OF SETTLEMEN PROCEEDS AND PAYMENT OF MEDICAL CARE PROVIDERS OR BENEFIT PROVIDERS:
The undersigned acknowledges that he/she has read , understood, and agreed to the above settlement statement . The undersigned further agrees that no medical care providers or benefit providers, unless listed above, have been or will be paid out of this settlement, and that any such bills or right of reimbursement remain the sole responsibility of the client and that the client will hold attorneys harmless from any such amounts due.
My next question to you guys is: is this stating that they have paid the hopital bill above already because nowhere in my contract did it say that they are required to pay the medical bill for the hospital for me nor have i authorized them to do so...if so what options do i have open from here..keep in mind i still haven't signed and returned the settlement agreement. i have tried to get in contact with my attorneys office by phne and email for the last two weeks so im unable to ask these questions to them so i decided to see you guys can help...hope this is not confusing
2 Answers from Attorneys
You need to discuss this with your lawyer. Your health care provider may have placed a lien on the file. Bear in mind that if you take the money and do not have the lawyer pay them, the hospital and doctor may sue you for the FULL amount and not the reduced amount your attorney got. Why you would want to pay more when your lawyer did a good job and got the bill cut makes no sense to me.
Hospital most likely has a lien on the disbursement. But yeah....why wouldn't you discuss this with your attorney? Are you scared of your attorney? Go ask him/her these questions...
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