If you have Medicare or another insurance carrier and they have paid you money for your personal injury accident, your personal injury lawyer will tell you that you will have liens on your personal injury case and settlement.
The reason is that they have a right to be reimbursed for any money they gave you for your personal injury accident before you received your settlement from the defendant. Your lawyer will tell you that any person or entity that places a lien on your settlement has a legal right to be paid before you even receive a cent of your settlement money.
Obviously, you need to understand how liens work in the context of a personal injury case or claim and settlement. You can have liens placed by any number of people and/or entities. The most common being:
● Unpaid state or federal taxes
● Unpaid child support
● Accrued medical bills
● Previous Medicare and Medicaid payments or payments from another health insurance carrier for your personal injury accident.
● Workers comp payments if you were hurt on the job
● Short and long-term disability payments
● Other creditors, you owe money to
How does a lien end up on your case?
Personal injury lawyers in St John’s know that liens end up on cases if you owe money to certain agencies. The government agency that collects child support would be a good example. These entities and people can place a lien on your settlement with a simple written letter to your lawyer stating so. Some entities like insurance companies are entitled to a lien because of the nature of the service (insurance) that they provide you. People you owe money to can also have the courts place a lien on your case. Make sure that your lawyer is negotiating with any lien holders well before your settlement amount is finalized. Many companies and government agencies move very slowly in this regard.
What you can do about a lien?
A lien is permanent. The only way you can have it removed is by arguing that it should not have been placed on your settlement to begin with. The lienholder may remove the lien, but only if your personal injury lawyer can prove to him or her that you actually don’t owe the lienholder any money.
Your lawyer can’t negotiate with the lienholders once you receive your settlement. You must pay them first. You need to hire a good personal injury lawyer because you need to have him or her talk to the lienholders to have all liens removed before you receive your settlement money.