Your medical bills make up a substantial portion of your losses from an Indiana car accident. In most cases, the party who caused the crash is responsible for those expenses. You may need legal help to pursue fair compensation or if your bills exceed the at-fault party’s insurance policy limit.
If you have further questions about how medical bills are paid after a car accident in Indiana, Truitt Law Offices has the answers.
Table of Contents
- 1 How Are Medical Bills Paid After an Indiana Car Accident?
- 2 Will I Have to Pay My Medical Bills Out of My Settlement?
- 3 What Happens If My Medical Bills Are More Than My Settlement?
- 4 What Can I Do to Pay Medical Bills That Are Due Now?
- 5 How Can My Compensation Be Affected If I Was Partly Responsible for the Accident?
- 6 Contact an Indiana Car Accident Lawyer
How Are Medical Bills Paid After an Indiana Car Accident?
Some states require drivers to purchase no-fault insurance as part of their auto policy and use those benefits to cover their injuries after a crash. However, Indiana is not one of these states. Instead, Indiana is an at-fault state. That means the driver or other party responsible for a crash is liable for the injuries they cause, including any medical expenses resulting from the collision.
In most cases, the liable driver’s insurance policy should cover your injuries from a crash. You may have other options for recovering compensation, though. For instance, if your auto insurance policy includes medical payments (MedPay) coverage, you can use this policy to pay your bills. Indiana law doesn’t require drivers to purchase MedPay coverage, but it can be a worthwhile addition to your policy.
Sometimes, the at-fault driver’s insurance coverage may not be enough to cover your medical costs and other losses. This often happens in severe crashes when the liable driver’s policy only meets Indiana’s minimum liability insurance requirements. If this happens, you can file a personal injury lawsuit against the liable driver to seek additional compensation. Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage on your own policy can also help here.
Will I Have to Pay My Medical Bills Out of My Settlement?
You likely need to pay your medical bills with the money from your car accident settlement. Even if you have separate health insurance coverage, medical expenses from a severe collision can add up quickly, and your health insurance may not cover all your costs. Your doctors still need to get paid, though. So, you’ll most likely have to pay for your medical treatment from whatever compensation you recover in a settlement. However, your settlement should account for your medical bills.
It’s possible, though rare, that your health insurance will cover all your medical expenses after a car wreck. Even in this scenario, your insurer will likely seek reimbursement from the money you obtain through your settlement. An Indiana car accident attorney can negotiate on your behalf to try to help you keep as much of your compensation as possible.
What Happens If My Medical Bills Are More Than My Settlement?
Insurance companies generally don’t pay more in a settlement than the driver’s policy limits, which means your medical expenses might exceed your settlement amount. You have a few options for paying your medical bills if this happens.
Additional Liable Parties
Your first option is to see if any other parties contributed to your injuries and file additional claims against them. For instance, if a defective car part contributed to the crash, you might have a product liability claim against the company that made the car or the faulty component.
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Your Own Insurance
Another option is to use your insurance coverage to pay your bills. If you’ve exhausted your primary auto insurance coverage, you might turn to your health insurance provider.
You might also have uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage, which helps pay for your injuries when the other driver’s coverage isn’t enough. Indiana law requires all policies issued in the state to include UM/UIM coverage unless you reject it in writing, so you likely have this coverage as part of your policy. Depending on your policy, you might also have MedPay coverage you can use to pay your bills.
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Personal Injury Lawsuit
Your final possibility is to file a car accident lawsuit against the liable driver and go after their personal assets. This may be a viable option if the other driver has substantial assets, but that’s not always the case.
What Can I Do to Pay Medical Bills That Are Due Now?
Most doctors and medical facilities understand that car accident claims can take a while to resolve, so they may give you extra time to pay your bills. If a doctor or medical facility demands immediate payment, you can try negotiating a payment plan to buy time while your case plays out.
Some healthcare providers have programs to help patients struggling to pay their bills after a severe injury or illness. It’s always worth asking if a provider has these programs. The worst they can do is say no, leaving you in the same position as before.
If you have an individual health insurance policy or insurance through your employer, that policy may cover some or all of your bills while your case plays out. Should your health insurer demand reimbursement for your medical expenses, you can pay them back with the money from your settlement. Your attorney can negotiate with medical providers to try to reduce the amount you owe or to get them to delay their demands for payment until your case concludes.
How Can My Compensation Be Affected If I Was Partly Responsible for the Accident?
Unlike in some states, Indiana law doesn’t prohibit you from recovering compensation if you’re partly responsible for an auto accident. However, your financial recovery could be reduced if the evidence shows you contributed to the crash. The legal term for this concept is comparative negligence. Under Indiana law, if your percentage of fault is 51 percent or more, you can’t recover any compensation. If your percentage of blame is 50 percent or less, then your compensation is reduced by that percentage.
For example, suppose your compensable losses from a car accident add up to $150,000. If your percentage of fault for the accident is 30 percent, you would lose 30 percent of your compensation, or $45,000.
Contact an Indiana Car Accident Lawyer
Indiana law generally gives you two years from the date of a crash to file a lawsuit. Waiting too long to talk to a lawyer can hurt your case. You need a skilled attorney on your side – both to establish the other side’s liability and attempt to reduce your level of fault. Here at Truitt Law offices, we have more than 40 years of experience and 100+ five-star reviews on Google.
Call Truitt Law Offices now or complete our contact form for a free consultation with an Indiana personal injury attorney.
