Insurance Companies Harass in Defending PIP Suits
Florida’s law makers have made it a requirement for every motorist to be insured. Insurance companies must provide a minimum of $10,000 of no-fault coverage to each motorist they insure. The law serves a noble purpose by making this a requirement. The requirement prevents motorists from facing crippling financial distress in the event of a car accident. Medical treatment for those injured in a car accident can become an enormous burden. The burden can be life altering for even seemingly minor accidents. The law was intended to provide “swift and virtually automatic payment” of benefits for the cost of medical treatment. Unfortunately, Insurance companies harass parties involved in PIP suits and to defeat the purpose of the law.
Insurance companies harass in response to the law by adopting policies that make it difficult for medical providers and their policy holders to receive benefits. The insurance companies harass and often use tactics that are are very intrusive in defending law suits for unpaid claims. Medical providers that commonly file suit to collect for treatment they perform are often subject these harassing tactics. The insured patients often face these tactics as well despite receiving treatment that they are entitled to by law.
One of the tactics that are used when insurance companies harass medical providers involves long and painstaking depositions of the medical provider. The patients often are subject to examinations under oath. The tactics used also include requests for information about the medical provider’s billing. These requests go as far as to ask for their calculation for treatment. Requests are made for information about what other insurance providers have paid to the providers for similar treatment. This is information that they are not entitled to as a third party to a contract.
Many medical providers and insurers have fought back when insurance companies harass by using similar tactics and becoming intrusive as well. Plaintiffs are able to request reports from insurance companies that show what the insurance company has paid other providers that have billed them for the same work. A report, called a “GEOZIP” report, records the amount other medical providers have billed for services that the plaintiff has billed for. The GEOZIP also lists the amount that each of them were reimbursed for those services. Plaintiffs have requested this information in response to tactics used by insurance companies. Their requests have provided plaintiffs in many cases with critical information in support of their claim that the insurance company has under paid. Defendant insurance companies have been apprehensive when it comes to sharing this information. In some cases, this request can result in an even larger payout than expected.
Having an attorney that knows how to respond to the harassing tactics that insurance companies often employ is critical to ensuring that medical providers receive what they are entitled to. Hiring an attorney that has experience in responding to insurance companies can make all the difference when litigating a claim for PIP benefits. The tactics employed by the insurance companies can all but defeat the intended purpose of the law. Hiring the right attorney can help you receive payment for medical services that you are legally entitled to.
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