Charlotte Injury Lawyers Blog
Charlotte Injury Lawyer Matt Arnold answers the question: “What is uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage and how may it apply to my case?
A car accident may cause minor injuries that require minimal treatment and result in speedy recovery or severe injuries that require significant treatment, rehabilitation, and recovery. Obviously, the second option may result in overwhelming medical costs, while the loss of income would only worsen the financial situation.
Regardless of how much your North Carolina car crash case is worth, you may wonder, “Who is going to pay my medical bills caused by the auto accident?” and “Should I pay my medical expenses if the other driver was at fault?”
Options to Pay for Your Medical Bills After a North Carolina Car Accident
To determine who is going to pay for your medical care following an auto collision, you need to identify payment sources for your medical bills. In order to do so, you need a Charlotte personal injury attorney to carefully assess the at-fault driver’s insurance as well as your own policy.
Depending on the available insurance coverage and the facts surrounding your case, some of the options to pay for your medical bills include:
- Liability insurance. When another driver’s negligence caused your car accident injury in North Carolina, you can file a claim against the driver’s liability insurance policy to recover damages, including medical bills and lost wages. However, you can only recover up to the driver’s policy limits.
- Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. Approximately 5% of motorists in North Carolina are uninsured, while many others do not have sufficient insurance coverage in the event they cause harm to others on the road. If you have the uninsured/underinsured motorist policy (UM/UIM), your personal injury attorney can pursue a claim against your own policy to recover damages.
- Med Pay. In North Carolina, motorists can add “Med Pay” to their car insurance policy. This optional type of coverage covers your necessary medical expenses up to the policy limits. In North Carolina, Med Pay is no-fault coverage, which means it covers your medical bills even if you caused the accident.
- Health insurance. You can also submit medical bills to your health insurance company to obtain payment. However, if your healthcare provider has your insurance information, chances are they have already submitted your bills to the insurers, even if you did not receive any notification.
- Litigation. If none of the above-mentioned options apply or the applicable health/auto insurance is exhausted, and you still have to pay medical bills, you can recover damages through litigation. Our Charlotte car accident attorney can help file a lawsuit against the at-fault driver to pay for the remaining costs. Keep in mind that recovering damages through litigation is an expensive and time-consuming process.
If you are unsure who pays your medical bills after a vehicle crash caused by someone else, speak with our lawyers at Arnold & Smith, PLLC, to evaluate your situation. Let our attorneys identify all available payment sources for your medical bills and provide legal help to seek compensation. Call us now at 704-370-2828 to speak with our lawyers to explore your legal options or fill out our contact form. Now taking cases throughout North Carolina with offices in Uptown Charlotte, Mooresville and Monroe.
The skilled personal injury attorneys at Arnold & Smith, PLLC are dedicated to maximizing the financial recovery and obtaining justice for every personal injury client injured by another party’s negligence. The issues our personal injury clients may be facing include, but are not limited to, slip and fall injuries, wrongful death, product liability, catastrophic injuries, dog bite claims, car and truck accident injuries, motorcycle injuries, traumatic brain injury (TBI), nursing home negligence, spinal cord injury, boating accidents, and defective medical device injury. Our personal injury attorneys understand the devastating impact such an injury can have on a person’s life, and that the effects so often go beyond physical pain and suffering. The personal injury attorneys at Arnold & Smith, PLLC are dedicated to helping clients determine the strength of their claims, and to aggressively pursuing the means necessary to achieve the best possible end result for each client’s particular situation.
Source:
https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-uninsured-motorists
Image Credit:
https://www.freeimages.com/photo/accidents-3-1493140
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