Pip Claim: Fill & Download for Free

Are you kidding me? This is like a hobby of mine. I do it all the time.As a claims professional, we are often times in conflict with the plaintiff attorney. It is the nature of claims work. Some plaintiff attorneys underestimate my skill level.I was handling this crazy auto accident case in Minnesota. Our insured sustained some minor injuries, and she received medical treatment. But our insured also had other unrelated preexisting medical problems.We have No-Fault PIP coverage that covers medical in Minnesota up to $20,000. (They can buy higher limits, but most people do not do that.) In this case, our insured had purchased $50,000 limit for PIP medical.Our insured retained an attorney to represent her, and we did have a dispute pending regarding her excessive medical treatment. We had an IME (independent medical exam) done to prove this continuing treatment was unrelated to the auto accident.For whatever reason, we kept getting very caustic letters from this plaintiff attorney. I mean, he was making a lot of personal attacks against me, and very critical about everything we had done on this claim. I would respond in writing to provide the reasons and clarify the situation. But every time I got a more offensive letter in return. (It was as if I was throwing gas on the fire, but that was not my intention.)I thought these letters from this law firm were very unprofessional. I found out later that these letters were actually written by his paralegal, although totally with the attorney’s blessing and approval. This went on for months.The plaintiff attorney filed a lawsuit against the insurance company, so I retained a defense attorney to assist in the defense of this matter.Our insured had incurred about $52,000 in medical bills. We had paid around $13,000 in medical benefits. After much wrangling between our attorney and the insured’s attorney, there was a tentative agreement to settle the PIP claim for around $7,000. Meaning the PIP claim would total out at $20,000.When our defense attorney called me to see if I would agree, I told her that I would agree to pay up to the $20,000. But I told her “do not characterize this as ‘paying the limit.’ Just say how much we are paying, and leave it at that.”Thus, we settled the PIP claim for $20,000. The deal was signed, and the final payment was made.The plaintiff attorney, who had been previously sending me nasty and insulting letters, had forgotten the PIP limit was $50,000. A serious error considering the medical bills incurred were over $52,000. Our file reflects we did reveal the PIP limit of $50,000 on several occasions, and it was even handwritten right on the PIP payment log “$50,000 PIP Limit,” of which he had a copy.The plaintiff attorney assumed the PIP limit was $20,000. And that’s why the claim settled at $20,000.The reason I told our defense attorney to not characterize this as a “limits case,” is because I knew the limit was $50,000. (A little detail that our defense attorney had likely overlooked as well.)This was the mistake of the plaintiff attorney. But this was NOT A MUTUAL mistake. If it had been a “mutual mistake,” then once it was discovered, they could easily get a judge to render the settlement null and void. So I wanted to make sure that our file did not reflect any “mutual mistake.”Our insured should have sued her attorney for legal malpractice due to his serious error, but I don’t know if that ever happened.Sara Olson's answer to Do legal cases always end up as a win or loss?

Yeah, actually Geico essentially dropped us (moved us from standard to high risk and doubled the premium) because I’d gotten rear ended twice in two years. Didn’t treat either time but they opened PIP on each.E Surance won’t write a Florida policy at any price if you’ve ever had a PIP claim. It’s a business decision. Nothing illegal about it.

Medical bills can influence or justify the amount of the compensation you will receive. Bills or receipts with discrepancies or errors can run you and your lawyer into problems.Make sure you bill your patients right. With the right set of bills, your lawyer can maximize your compensation.Read the blog to know more http://piplaw.com/blog/2017/10/18/importance-of-medical-bills-in-evaluating-your-pip-claim/