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hello and thanks for joining us for today's discussion today we will cover why you need to watch out for liens on your injury settlement proceeds if you're about to settle your personal injury claim or you've just settled it you should be aware of any lien holders a lien holder is an individual or organization to whom you legally owe part of your settlement compensation there are several types of legitimate lien holders and personal injury claims and they include doctors hospitals clinics or other health care providers Medicaid and Medicare Veterans Administration workers compensation insurance your health and auto insurance companies you need to be aware of when a lien can be put on your settlement if you were injured and didn't have the money to pay your medical bills and someone advanced either the money or the health care services you needed you probably have a duty to pay them back if you're in this situation there's a good chance there's one or more liens against your settlement proceeds each state has its own laws and regulations governing how a lien must be perfected or legitimized by a lien holder if your health care insurance company paid your medical bills while your personal injury claim was in process or medical provider treated you without requiring immediate payment they may have a legitimate lien against your settlement federal and state law supports these liens and your duty to pay or satisfy them a lien holder must advise you of their intent through a letter of protection or other legally acceptable form of notification you should set aside money from your settlement proceeds to satisfy any unpaid services if you don't you could be sued by the lien holder or holders healthcare providers such as doctors hospitals and clinics can legitimize their liens by either having you sign a letter of protection before treating you or by exercising their lien rights under state law sometimes they do both a letter of protection also known as an LLP is a signed agreement stating you will pay the healthcare provider from your settlement proceeds the LLP is a contract between you and the healthcare provider if you fail to honor that contract the provider has the right to sue you if that happens you may be responsible not only for the money you owe them but also for their attorneys fees in court costs failure to pay a medical bill can also go against your credit rating which will cause a serious decline in your credit score each state has different lien laws so it's important to research how your state deals with it letters of protection are helpful but a provider doesn't necessarily need one to be financially protected many states have laws protecting health care providers who advance treatment to patients in the states that don't require lp's a lien is enacted when the provider simply sends a certified letter notifying the patient of their lien states give healthcare providers these financial...