How Do I Pay for Injuries Following a Car Accident?
Most car accident victims seek immediate treatment at a local emergency room. Victims often seek treatment from their own general physicians. Depending on the nature of their injury, our Florida car injury lawyers work with the following doctors to help you get healthy:
- Orthopedists
- Neurosurgeons and neurologists
- Psychiatrists and psychologists
- Pain management doctors
- Many other medical specialists
- Physical therapists
- Speech therapists
- Occupational therapists
- Many other different types of therapists and counselors
Victims may need surgeries. Sometimes, they need prosthetics and other medical devices. Typically, car accident victims need medications to handle a range of problems.
Insurances for Florida car accident victims
All of these hospital stays, doctor visits, and additional care cost a lot of money. There are several ways car accident injury victims can cover their medical bills:
PIP coverage
PIP means Personal Injury Protection. All car owners must have at least $10,000 in PIP benefits. If you can afford it, you should pay for much more the minimum. PIP pays for up to 80% of your medical bills – up to your policy limits.
PIP pays medical benefits regardless of fault. This means you don’t have to wait for the outcome of your personal injury case. Covered medical expenses should be paid when you get the medical bill.
PIP covers the car owner and any family members living in the same house. Family members usually mean a spouse or children. It also covers anyone who was in your car when the accident happened – if they don’t have their own PIP coverage. There are a few exceptions. PIP only pays up to $2,500 unless the claimant has an Emergency Medical Condition. The claimant must seek medical care within 14 days of the accident.
An EMC is one of the following:
- Serious jeopardy to the patient’s health
- Extreme impairment to bodily function
- Serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part.
MedPay
This is essentially a supplement no-fault coverage. It pays 20% that PIP doesn’t pay. It pays the excess bills over the PIP limits up to the MedPay limits.
Bodily Injury Liability (BIL)
In most car accidents, the responsible party is the driver of the other car that struck you. If the driver isn’t the owner of the car, then the owners are normally liable too. Sometimes, multiple drivers are liable. Sometimes, other people or companies are liable. The BIL insurance should pay your outstanding medical bills. Outstanding means the bills that PIP and MedPay didn’t cover. Insurance companies normally pay:
- When an experienced Florida car accident lawyer helps obtain a settlement.
- When an experienced Florida car accident lawyer obtains a verdict on the injured person’s behalf
Uninsured/underinsured policy coverage.
If the vehicle owner of the car you were in when injured has UM/UIM insurance, then their policy may also pay the outstanding medical bills.
For example, assume you are injured in a car accident and you have $95,000 in medical bills. The driver who struck you was going 30mph over the speed limit. He only has $50,000 in BIL coverage. You already collected $10,000 in PIP benefits and $10,000 in Medpay payments. Your outstanding medical bills are $25,000. If you have UM/UIM coverage for $95,000, then your UM/UIM carriers pay the $25,000 that’s still due.
Please note that if you had $95,000 in medical bills – your pain and suffering are likely very large. If your pain and suffering are worth $300,000 then your UM/UIM insurance carrier would have to pay that sum too. Provided the UM/UIM policy limits were high enough.
If there isn’t enough to cover the medical bills until a settlement or trial, many doctors are willing to agree to wait until settlement or verdict. For this reason, it is very important to let your doctors and health professionals know you had a car accident.
Personal Health Insurance
Or, you may ask your own health insurance carrier to pay. If your own health company pays, then it has the right to reimbursement when your money comes in.
There are some issues your Florida car accident lawyer will also review. These include:
- Copays
- Deductibles
PIP and Medpay are also known as first-party claims. Bodily injury is commonly called a third-party claim. PIP also pays some of your income loss claims. MedPay doesn’t pay any income loss.
Make the call to our experienced Florida car injury lawyers today
We have obtained many strong settlements and verdicts for many clients. At Lulich Attorneys and Consultants, our experienced trial lawyers have more than 30 years of experience. Our skilled Florida car injury lawyers are ready to help you hold to get the medical care you need and the compensation you deserve. Please phone us at 772-774-7771 (Vero Beach) or 772-589-5500 (Sebastian) to discuss your accident claim.