• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Attorney Escrow

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

MsShauna

Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Georgia

I was in an accident about 2 years ago. I was the 3rd person the other driver had hit that month so the insurance company did not want to pay. I had some injuries and had to end up hiring an attorney. I only wanted them to pay my medical bills, car damage, and lost wages, basically I just wanted to be made whole and not jerk the insurance company. Against my lawyers advice I told him to settle when they offered the amount that covered everything I had lost.

Now its been about 3 weeks since the insurance company deposited the money into the lawyers escrow account and I've been calling to ask when the doctors will get paid because I owe people and the lawyer told me not to pay the bills out of my pocket. The last time I contacted the lawyers office one of the young ladies in the office said she doesn't know when she will get to disbursing for my case because she is working on cases more important than mine with bigger issues than mine and it was 6 people ahead of me. Is there a set amount of time for the attorney to disburse the claim?

Throughout this I have been in touch with all the doctors letting them know the status of the case and some of them even reduced the bill for me because they said that I was being genuine about attempting to pay them and not trying to get out of my obligation.
 


sandyclaus

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Georgia

I was in an accident about 2 years ago. I was the 3rd person the other driver had hit that month so the insurance company did not want to pay. I had some injuries and had to end up hiring an attorney. I only wanted them to pay my medical bills, car damage, and lost wages, basically I just wanted to be made whole and not jerk the insurance company. Against my lawyers advice I told him to settle when they offered the amount that covered everything I had lost.

Now its been about 3 weeks since the insurance company deposited the money into the lawyers escrow account and I've been calling to ask when the doctors will get paid because I owe people and the lawyer told me not to pay the bills out of my pocket. The last time I contacted the lawyers office one of the young ladies in the office said she doesn't know when she will get to disbursing for my case because she is working on cases more important than mine with bigger issues than mine and it was 6 people ahead of me. Is there a set amount of time for the attorney to disburse the claim?

Throughout this I have been in touch with all the doctors letting them know the status of the case and some of them even reduced the bill for me because they said that I was being genuine about attempting to pay them and not trying to get out of my obligation.
You're worried about it taking a whole 3 weeks to disburse the funds?

Unless there are creditors pounding down your door to get paid (which there arent, as you stated the doctors are being more than patient), you're going to have to be a bit MORE patient. There may well be other cases which are more complicated and which require more attention than yours. When it starts costing you money to have to wait much longer, THEN will be the time to start getting impatient.
 

TigerD

Senior Member
Regardless of the truth of the matter, it is still bad form to tell the client she isn't important.

That said, the attorney has to try and figure out how to pay the creditors with the settlement amount the client demanded. After expenses, costs and legal fees, there may not be enough money to pay everyone.

DC
 

MsShauna

Member
Thank you for your responses. It took a long time to settle and I just want to make sure these doctors get paid because they were generous to not make me pay up front. The problem isn't that they have to call the doctors and negotiate a payment amount that has been done already. It was 5 doctors and they have not issued liens but they did send letters saying they accept a certain amount as paid in full. Majority of them only asked for 30% of the entire bill which is very generous so I just want to make sure I do right by them.

Call it impatient but I don't like to burn bridges and everything has already been in the attorney's office because I handed them everything. I work for an attorney that is contracted for HUD for this entire region so many of these people know me and I try to do the right thing. I am understanding and could understand if they had to request bill and etc but that is not the case. The only thing we have ever been waiting on was the insurance company to agree to pay the amount of the bills and lost wages.

Also, the hospital did put their bill on my credit and when I asked my attorney numerous times if I should pay it he said no and that he would handle it but it has been reporting negative for 8 months.
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top