This post will discuss the top three things to consider when hiring an attorney to handle your unpaid/underpaid PIP claims:
(1) How much does it cost to hire a PIP attorney?
Not all PIP lawyers charge the same amount. There are two different types of
fees:
-Some lawyers (myself included) do not charge a percentage. These lawyers only
keep the interest/penalty that is owed to the doctor. My office never takes a
percentage of your hard-earned money as a fee.
-Some lawyers charge a percentage of the money that they recover for the
doctor. If your lawyer charges you a percentage then I think that you’re
overpaying.
Make sure you discuss the fees BEFORE you hire an attorney to handle your PIP files.
(2) Does the lawyer offer any additional services?
Some PIP lawyers will go to your office and review the last five years of your
PIP claims to see which claims have been underpaid. My office offers this as a
free service so that your staff can focus on their day-to-day activities
instead of creating extra work for your staff.
Even if you already have a PIP attorney, make sure that you have the last five years of your claims reviewed for underpayments. I can’t tell you how many doctors say that they have a PIP lawyer but never had them review the last five years of PIP claims. My office found approximately 75 files that never made it to the other PIP lawyer and my office was able to collect an extra $60,000 for that doctor even though they already “had somebody.”
My office also provides free legal advice related to PIP claims. If you ever have PIP related questions, please feel free to call.
(3) Is the lawyer’s practice only focused on PIP claims?
With the big changes to the PIP law in January 2013, some Personal Injury lawyers started to
market themselves as “PIP lawyers.”
At Ovadia Law Group, we have four lawyers who are proud to handle PIP claims on behalf of Florida doctors. Our main focus has always been PIP and this isn’t a “fad” for us. We handled thousands of cases under the “old law” and we will continue to fight for doctor’s rights under the new PIP law too.
