Certain personal injuries are result of auto accidents. Treatments of such personal injuries include medical expenses, which personal injury claim or one’s own auto insurance helps to bear depending on the circumstances. The personal injury claim also provides some well deserved time to the victim to get well properly.
Who's Going to Pay the Medical Bills?
The general rule implies that the culprit need not pay the medical charges on constant basis. However, he needs to pay the compensation for the accident, for which he is found at a fault.
Different factors tend to determine the criteria for payment of medical bills:
- Residential state of the injured person
- Magnitude of injuries received by the injured person
- Type of insurance involved
However, accidents occurring in “no fault” states are always considered an exception.
No-fault state rule: In situation of a motor accident, occurring in a “no fault” state, the insurer of the culprit makes some or the entire medical bill payment regardless of whether he is at a fault or not. The “no fault” states have a tendency to put a limit on the amount to be recovered from the vehicle’s insurer company. The limit is $10,000 or less in most cases.
In certain cases, where the medical expenses exceed the “no fault” limit for a state, the victim is forced to bear his own bills. The injured person can sort out his bills either through his health insurer, health insurance program run by the state or health care, whatever is acquired by the person suffering injuries.
Fault state rule: In the event of a person getting injured in a state that follows “fault” insurance, the person suffering injuries has to pay all his medical bills from his pocket. Only in few cases, the drivers who have availed medical payment insurance coverage are entitled to receive limited help. The damage caps are generally set to $10,000 or less in case of their medical bills.
Comparative negligence law
A comparative negligence law may reduce the claim amount to an extent, once the injured person is found at fault leading to his injury. Some conditions that need to be observed are:
- Was the injured person’s being present at the spot of accident logical?
- Was there any chance of saving the victim?
- Was the victim found ignoring any warnings?
- Was the victim involved in any inappropriate action due to which he was injured?
The comparative negligence rule states that, if a person suffering injuries is found more than 51% modified comparative fault then he is not eligible to file a personal injury claim.
Ways through which an attorney can help
An attorney can guide his client in more than one way:
- By coordinating with the insurer of the guilty
- By dealing with the doctors treating the injured person so that correct details could be availed to get the claim amount
- By collecting all the medical records and bills
- By keeping a track of proof to get an access to the claim amount
- By carrying out a settlement approvable to all
An attorney can always make the whole process to getting a personal injury claim relatively easy. One can easily look up on internet and search for a lawyer to claim his medical bills.
