Sometimes, even when you having an attorney representing you in a personal injury case in San Francisco, San Francisco General Hospital and San Francisco Fire Department Ambulance will continue to send you bills for the medical services you received related to your accident. This may be due to their computer system that continues to generate these bills automatically. In my experience, it seems to take them quite some time to “inform” their system that this is a personal injury case and they should hold off on collection of the bill.
Why having a top-rated San Francisco personal injury attorney helps:
When to have a personal injury attorney working on your case, that attorney will (or at least should) contact the City and County of San Francisco Bureau of Delinquent Revenue, the collection agent for San Francisco General Hospital (the emergency medical facility most commonly used in serious personal injury cases) and the San Francisco Fire Department Ambulance, to deal with them directly on paying your medical bills. The Bureau of Delinquent Revenue handles all billing for SFGH and SFFD related to personal injury cases. Your attorney will deal directly with the bureau of delinquent revenue to pay the bill at the conclusion of your case. However, you should always communicate directly with your lawyer and make sure that you provide her with copies of all billing that you receive related to your case.
What we do at Sally Morin Professional Corporation:
At our office, we quickly contact the CCSF Bureau of Delinquent Revenue and advise them that your bill is related to a personal injury case, and we ask them to hold off on collecting the bill until the case has concluded. The City of San Francisco will agree to this, but they have a right to assert a lien on your case. A lien means that they have a legal right to be paid from any settlement proceeds or judgment you receive from the third party.
The bottom line:
So, in short, the bills you may continue to receive from San Francisco general hospital and from the San Francisco Fire Department Ambulance during your personal injury case are simply generated by their computers, but are rarely enforced (reported to any collection agencies) as long as you have an experienced and qualified personal injury attorney who is quick to communicate with the City about the case and to acknowledge the City’s lien in the case. However, make sure to forward all bills (not just those from San Francisco General or Fire Department) to your attorney, so she can stay on top of all documentation in your case and be sure to pay all bills at the conclusion of your case.
If you want to learn more about how the process works if you hire Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers as your personal injury traffic accident lawyer, check out our page explaining the process.