Medical bills are often the primary concern of people injured in car accidents. Not only are physical injuries painful to endure, but necessary medical treatment is often more expensive than many people can afford.
One way to get your medical bills paid is to file a personal injury lawsuit against the driver responsible for the crash. You might also try filing an insurance claim. In New Jersey, drivers must file claims with their own insurance first before pursuing lawsuits. You may continue with a lawsuit depending on what kind of right to sue is included in your insurance policy. In some cases, injured victims might have to find ways to pay for their own medical bills, usually in cases where the defendant is uninsured or cannot be found. In other cases, the defendant must pay for your medical expenses out of their own pocket.
The bottom line is that medical bills after a car accident can be astronomical. Our New Jersey car accident lawyers can help you determine the best way to pay your medical bills. For a free case review, call Legal Care New Jersey at (732) 838-9769.
Getting Your Medical Bills Paid by the Defendant in a Lawsuit After a New Jersey Car Accident
Filing a lawsuit is one of the best ways to get not only your medical expenses paid for, but also numerous other damages related to the car accident. When you win a personal injury lawsuit for a car accident, the defendant’s insurance provider usually is the one ultimately footing the bill. However, there may be situations where the defendant is not covered by insurance, and they must cover the damage out of their own pocket.
To get the defendant or their insurance provider to pay for your medical bills, you must prove liability for the accident. Liability in most car accident cases is based on negligence. Negligence encompasses four legal elements that must be proven in court: duty breach causation and damages. Our Elizabeth, NJ car accident attorney can help you start your lawsuit and hopefully get your medical bills paid for.
Exactly what each of these elements looks like and the evidence we need to satisfy each element might vary based on your circumstances. Generally, drivers on the road have a duty to drive with reasonable safety under the circumstances while obeying the traffic code. A breach would be anything the defendant does or fails to do that violates their legal duty. Causation refers to how the breach caused the accidents. In short, the accident must be the direct result of the defendant’s breach of duty. Finally, we must have evidence that your damages are real and not hypothetical or only possibilities.
Insurance Coverage for Medical Bills After a Car Accident in New Jersey
Many injured drivers file insurance claims after car accidents. New Jersey is a no-fault insurance state, and drivers must usually file claims with their own insurance before pursuing other legal options. Even when drivers want to pursue other legal options, there might be some hoops to jump through.
New Jersey is a no-fault state when it comes to auto insurance. In no-fault states, drivers file insurance claims with their own insurance providers rather than third-party claims against other drivers’ insurance. You are required to carry personal injury protection (PIP) insurance that covers a certain amount of economic, depending on your policy.
For many, PIP insurance does not completely cover their medical expenses. If your exhaust your PIP insurance or are not covered by insurance, you can file a personal injury lawsuit against the other driver, as mentioned earlier. When purchasing insurance in New Jersey, you must choose whether you want a limited or unlimited right to sue. Under an unlimited right to sue, you can file a lawsuit for any damages you need. If you have a limited right, you can only sue for economic losses.
Since medical bills are economic losses, you should not be prohibited from filing a lawsuit for medical expenses after a car accident. However, you might also have non-economic damages like pain and suffering that you want to be compensated. In that case, you must either have an unlimited right to sue or have a permanent injury from the accident, like the loss of a body part, significant disfigurement, death, or other permanent injuries.
Paying Your Own Medical Bill After a Car Accident in New Jersey
In some cases, injured drivers have to pay their own medical bills or find coverage from someone other than the other driver in the accident. For example, if the other driver fled the scene of the accident and you are unable to find them, you cannot file a lawsuit, and you must find your own ways of covering your medical expenses. Our Newark car accident lawyers can help you do so.
In cases where the other driver who caused the crash cannot be found, you can file an insurance claim with your uninsured motorist coverage. This is often an optional insurance policy, and not every injured driver will have it. However, it may come in handy if you are hit by a negligent driver who then flees the scene.
Uninsured motorist coverage might also come in handy if you can identify the driver but do not want to sue them because they have no insurance. A negligent driver without insurance might be insolvent and unable to pay your medical bills even if you win a lawsuit. Uninsured motorist coverage can help you cover your medical expenses while our team helps you explore your options for compensation.
Call Our New Jersey Car Accident Attorneys for Assistance Today
If you are injured in a car accident, you might have mounting medical bills that seem impossible to pay. Our Paterson car accident lawyers can help you determine who should have to pay and how you can get compensation. For a free review of your case, call Legal Care New Jersey at (732) 838-9769.
