If you’ve been injured in a car crash, then you may wonder how you’re going to foot the bill for all the doctor’s visits that you need to get back on your feet again. What you’re able to tap into to pay these bills will be contingent upon a lot of factors including who was responsible for the crash and the type of auto insurance coverage you have.
Traffic accidents caused by others
Most every state requires that drivers who strike and injure others to hang around after a crash. If they don’t, then they can be charged with hit-and-run and other related crimes.
Virtually every state requires motorists to carry bodily injury liability coverage in order to lawfully operate a vehicle. It’s seen as a way to ensure that injured drivers will have an avenue through which they recover medical costs if they’re hurt in an accident.
Hit-and-run and uninsured motorists
If a motorist strikes you and takes off or doesn’t have auto insurance coverage, then you’ll want to check and see if you have elected or waived your insurer’s medical payments (MP) benefits.
You’ll also want to check and see whether the jurisdiction that you live in requires you to take out personal injury protection (PIP) coverage. If you have either one of these, then you can use them to pay on your accident-related medical costs.
Motorists who don’t have PIP or MP coverage in incidents like these will hopefully have health care insurance instead. If they do, then they can use it to pay for the medical costs they amass. Just keep in mind that, if you end up going down this route, your health care insurer will ultimately attempt to the amount for any payments that they make from the other driver’s insurer or, if unknown, then you own.
If you have uninsured motorist coverage, then you may also file an injury claim and use those funds to pay your bills. If you plan to go this route, then it’s important that you do so within Connecticut’s established statute of limitations. A New Haven attorney can advise you as to what that limited time frame is in a car crash case.
