Letter of protection
A letter of protection is a written promise from an attorney to pay a provider out of any eventual claim settlement in exchange for care without current billing, often shortened to LOP.
Collision Bureau is not a law firm and this is not legal or medical advice. It is general information about what happens after a crash. For advice on your situation, talk to an attorney licensed in your state or a treating clinician.
What it means
A letter of protection is a short written agreement among three parties: the injured patient, the treating provider, and the patient's attorney. The attorney promises, in writing, to protect the provider's balance out of any settlement, judgment, or recovery that comes from the underlying claim. The provider agrees to treat the patient and hold the bill rather than collecting at the point of service. The patient agrees to the arrangement and acknowledges the balance remains their obligation if the claim does not pay. Three signatures, one document.
How it works
The mechanics are simpler than the name suggests. The attorney drafts or signs an LOP form and sends it to the provider's office. The provider's billing side reads it, decides whether to accept the arrangement, and either begins treating under the LOP or asks for payment in another form. From that point forward the provider charts and bills the care as it would any other patient, with the collection path redirected toward the eventual settlement rather than toward the patient's monthly statements. If the claim resolves, the attorney pays the balance out of the settlement proceeds before anything reaches the patient.
Why it comes up
LOPs show up most often where injury care runs ahead of the claim timeline. Someone with pain today and a case that will not resolve for months needs the treatment now, and health insurance or MedPay or PIP might not cover all of it. The LOP is the written arrangement that lets care continue without the patient absorbing the running cost. It is also a document that lives on the medical side of the file, which means it travels into any later conversation about damages, liens, and settlement allocation. If you want help getting a conversation started with an attorney, you can ask to talk to a collision attorney.
What it is not
An LOP is not an insurance policy and does not pay the bill if the claim pays nothing. It is not a lien by itself, though it often sits beside statutory and contractual liens that get satisfied from a settlement. It is not a guarantee the provider will accept the arrangement, because acceptance is a business decision on the provider's side. And it is not something a non-lawyer should assemble, because the obligations run through the attorney who signs it.
Questions people actually ask
01Who is responsible for the bill if the claim pays nothing?
The patient. A letter of protection does not erase the bill. It defers the collection and promises the provider a seat at the eventual settlement. If the claim recovers nothing, the underlying charges still exist and the provider can bill the patient directly. That is one of the main reasons an attorney does not sign a letter without a serious read on liability. What this means in a specific situation is a question for a licensed attorney in your state, which is the whole point of talking to one before signing anything.
02Does accepting an LOP commit me to a certain attorney?
The LOP is signed by the attorney as part of the representation, so changing attorneys mid-case means the new attorney either honors the LOP or renegotiates it with the provider. The patient can still change counsel. The paperwork and the provider conversation follow. Nothing about an LOP commits the patient to a specific attorney forever, and nothing about an LOP changes the general right to end a representation on terms set by the retainer and the applicable rules of professional conduct in your state.
03Will a provider always accept a letter of protection?
No. Acceptance is a business decision for the provider, who is agreeing to carry the receivable until the case resolves and to accept the risk that the case recovers less than the balance. Some providers accept LOPs routinely, some do not, and some accept them only for specific attorneys they have worked with before. This site does not rank, rate, or recommend providers, and whether an LOP is right for a specific situation is a question for a licensed attorney in your state.