As you try to find a way to deal with the physical pain and suffering that’s been unfairly thrust upon you after a car accident, you might find yourself worried about how you’re going to pay all of your bills.
This is understandable. After all, your income may have dried up on account of being unable to work at a time when costly medical bills are coming due. As if that’s not enough, you’ll probably also struggle to deal with your day-to-day living expenses unless you have a significant amount of savings.
How can you pay your bills following a car accident?
There’s no one way to go about doing this. Instead, you have to find an avenue that works best for you and your family. That said, there are options available to you, which may include each of the following:
- Turning to insurance: Hopefully your insurance coverage and the other driver’s policy will kick in to help cover a lot of your medical expenses. Make sure you take a closer look at the policies that are implicated, though, as you might be able to get some assistance with other costs, such as a rental vehicle.
- Turn to family and friends: Although you might hope that your insurance company will help keep you afloat, the reality is that many medical bills exceed maximum policy payouts, which means you can be left holding the bag on exorbitant medical costs. Also, you’re still going to have to find a way to pay for your living expenses. That’s why many car accident victims turn to family members and friends for assistance. We know that can be a hard ask, which is why you might want to have your borrowing agreement mapped out in writing so that the repayment expectations are clear.
- Use a hospital lien: Your medical providers are probably going to be somewhat understanding that you may not be able to pay your bills until any pending litigation is resolved. As such, these providers are often willing to enter into a lien agreement where they hold off on collecting owed debt in exchange for taking an interest in your personal injury claim. That way, if you do recover something from your legal action, then the hospital will be among the first to be paid.
- Obtain a lawsuit loan: If the options mentioned above still aren’t enough, then you might have to consider whether a lawsuit loan is right for you. This type of loan is meant to help you cover your expenses until your personal injury case resolves, at which point you’d repay the loan. However, it’s important to keep in mind that these loans may carry higher interest rates than you’d expect, which can be problematic given that you don’t know how long it will take for your case to play out. Be careful here.
Be sure to build the strongest personal injury case possible
The best way to ensure that your car accident damages are covered is to pursue a personal injury lawsuit. So, as you navigate how to make ends meet in the immediate aftermath of your wreck, you still need to devote a significant amount of attention to building your legal claim.