We spend much of our lives on the road, whether it be heading to work, running errands, or traveling. What we often forget with all of our time on the road is just how risky the freeways of this country can be.
Car accidents are far more common than we like to believe. A fender bender is one thing, but many car accidents produce injuries and damage that can be quite severe — and expensive.
What are you supposed to do with the hospital bills that pile up endlessly following a serious car accident? Will the insurance of the other driver cover these costs? Read on and we’ll walk you through what you need to know.
Who Pays For Hospital Bills After a Car Accident?
When an accident occurs, it’s easy to get hurt. This is why so many doctors recommend that you be checked up following an incident even if you feel perfectly fine. Adrenaline following a car accident tends to mask pains and can make it so that you don’t even realize you are injured.
Fault is a major factor in who these costs will fall to. Different states have different laws when it comes to fault in a car accident. Generally speaking, whoever caused an accident, or is ‘at fault,’ must pay the price of damage to individuals involved in the wreck.
If you were the cause of your own accident, your insurance company might not necessarily have to cover your medical bills. However, there are many states where no-fault laws are in place, meaning an insurance company will need to cover these costs whether you were at fault or not.
In the instance where another driver caused your accident, they will be on the line to pay for all damages you’ve incurred as a result of the accident. This will include your medical bills, which will be a huge part of these damages.
Medical care in the United States can be extremely expensive and it is important to ensure you receive compensation if you’ve been injured as a result of someone else’s negligence.
Failure to do so could find you drowning under never-ending costs. Many people go bankrupt as a result of attempting to afford medical care. You can go here if you need to learn more about fighting for the compensation that you deserve.
Proving Fault in an Accident
How can you determine who is at fault in an accident? It’s an important question to understand if you’re going to have your hospital bills covered by another party.
All drivers on the road have a duty of care to other drivers under the law. This means that they must exercise reasonable care when driving. If a person failed to signal, ran a red light, was speeding, or drove under the influence? They would have failed to present a reasonable duty of care.
Whatever action caused the accident could likely be considered negligent. Gathering evidence after your accident can help prove this point to an insurance company and their lawyers later on.
Following your accident, it’s a good idea to get as many photos and videos from the scene as possible. Documenting damage and your injuries will be important evidence, later on, to show what you are seeking compensation for.
Doctor’s reports following your accident will be important as well.
Photos and videos from the accident can also provide important details that can help to display who was at fault for the accident. The position of cars, roads, lights, and so forth all can be help determine how the accident happened.
Police officers will be deployed to the scene of an accident to create a report and assign fault for the accident in most cases. This police report will be an essential piece of evidence as well if you’re making a case.
You should never take responsibility for an accident at the scene as this can be held against you as evidence later on. You don’t know all the details of the accident right after it’s happened and thus should not make declarative statements in this way.
Why An Attorney is Essential
Insurance companies stay in business by avoiding paying out claims as much as humanly possible. This means they will attempt to either avoid your claim or lowball you on how much they are willing to offer.
If one gets less compensation than they deserve it can put them in a seriously precarious financial situation. This is the last thing you want. You want to ensure you have all the financial support you need to resume your life as it was prior to the accident.
An attorney can make sure that this happens for you. An attorney will have experience with accidents just like yours. They will be able to determine how much compensation you need and how best to present your case so that you get it.
An experienced attorney will know how to fight back against insurance company lawyers. They will be able to explain your case to you in a way that is easy to understand. They can provide guidance during a difficult time in your life.
Understanding a Post-Accident Insurance Claim
If you’ve been in an accident, you’re likely concerned about how your hospital bills are going to be paid for. How is this all determined? The above information can help you to get up to speed.
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