A note on where this comes from: As a former Judge Pro Tem in Oregon, I have seen what happens when clients agree to financial arrangements they do not fully understand. A Letter of Protection is a legitimate tool, but it carries real consequences at settlement that you need to know about before you sign.
Oregon’s minimum PIP benefit is $15,000. Just one emergency room visit, two imaging studies, and a few weeks of physical therapy can consume that limit before you are anywhere close to recovered. When PIP runs out, you have three potential sources to continue paying for care, and each one comes with terms worth understanding from day one.
The Three Sources After PIP Is Exhausted
1. The At-Fault Driver’s Liability Insurance
Oregon requires minimum bodily injury coverage of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident under ORS 806.070. If the other driver was responsible, their insurer owes you for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering beyond what PIP covered. However, the at-fault driver’s adjuster is not your partner in this process. Their job is to deny liability where possible, delay payment, and defend their insured from your claim. VWSH engages in pre-litigation efforts to pursue policy limits, or moves your case to litigation, once PIP is exhausted or treatment is complete.
2. Your Underinsured Motorist (UIM) Coverage
UIM coverage is optional in Oregon, but if you purchased it, it is designed to bridge the gap between what the at-fault driver’s policy can pay and what you are actually owed. Many clients do not know they have UIM coverage until we look. Before assuming you are limited to the other driver’s policy limits, let us review your own declarations page. UIM is worth having, and worth understanding before you need it.
3. Your Health Insurance
Your health insurance can cover accident-related bills that PIP does not. However, there are two things to know. First, when your health insurer pays those bills, they acquire a subrogation right: a legal claim to be reimbursed from your settlement. Second, many chiropractic practices that specialize in car accident cases do not accept health insurance. They prefer to operate on a lien basis, meaning they get paid at settlement rather than at time of service.
If you are in active chiropractic care after an accident, ask directly whether your provider accepts your health insurance. If they do not, consider finding one who does. A provider who takes your insurance means less lien exposure at settlement.
What a Letter of Protection Actually Means
A Letter of Protection (LOP) is an agreement between your attorney and a medical provider. In exchange for the provider continuing to treat you after PIP runs out, your attorney guarantees that the provider will be paid from the proceeds of your settlement.
LOPs are common and can be the right solution when you need continued care and have no other way to fund it. But they carry a critical consequence: the provider holds a lien on your case. That lien is paid back out of your portion of the recovery when the case resolves.
The total amount on a lien can grow significantly over months of treatment. You and your attorney need to track it in real time and factor it into settlement discussions. A recovery that looks adequate in the abstract may leave very little after lien repayment.
Liens Are Negotiable
Most medical liens, whether from an LOP provider, a hospital, or a health insurer’s subrogation claim, can be negotiated. Providers regularly accept reductions, particularly when the total recovery is limited and the injuries are serious. Your attorney’s job is to aggressively negotiate those liens so that the maximum amount of the recovery reaches you. Not every firm does this as a matter of course. We do.
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Partner · Vames Wang Sosa Hood
Paul Vames is a partner at Vames Wang Sosa Hood and a former Judge Pro Tem in Oregon. He brings a judicial perspective to case strategy and represents seriously injured clients throughout the Pacific Northwest.
View full profileThis article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Oregon law is subject to change. Statutory references are current as of the date of publication. Contact Vames Wang Sosa Hood for legal counsel specific to your situation.