The Financial Difficulties Of A Car Crash Victim
Michael Babboni
Car Accidents
Car accidents can have significant impacts on one’s life. If you’re a victim of a car accident, aside from the injuries that you may obtain, you will also encounter financial hurdles you need to deal with, and they include the following:Medical Costs
The most obvious cost of an injury following a car accident is your medical bills, which highly depend on the extent of your injuries. If you only suffer from minor injuries, you won’t deal with substantial financial issues. However, if your injuries are serious, the expenses could accumulate quickly.
In Florida, all drivers are required to have personal injury protection (PIP) insurance, which will help cover some of the costs regardless of who’s at fault. PIP can pay up to $10,000 for victims with an emergency medical condition. After that, the costs will fall on MedPay, bodily injury insurance, and uninsured/underinsured motorist insurance coverage.
In case those can’t cover all your medical expenses and the accident wasn’t your fault, you can sue the driver’s insurance company to cover the rest of your damages.
Loss Of Income
After you sustain injuries from a car accident, you likely won’t be able to go to work. Depending on the severity of the injury, you could be at the hospital or at home for a few days, weeks, or even months. When you miss work, you won’t have any source of income.
PIP may help reimburse you for some of your lost wages. You and your auto accident lawyer must submit a Wage and Salary Verification form to your employer, and that will be used to obtain adequate information about the amount you usually make at work. However, PIP will only cover 60% of your lost wages due to injury, and in order to reclaim the rest, you will need to claim them as damages when you and your lawyer file a suit against the at-fault party’s insurance company.
Pain And Suffering
Pain and suffering following a car accident may affect you financially. Fortunately, the law in Florida allows you to factor pain and suffering into the general damages. These will compensate you for having to go through the pain, inconvenience, and anguish of an injury that never would have happened if not for the other person’s negligence.
Pain and suffering may include compensation for having to endure physical and mental pain, along with emotional anguish. The thing is, pain and suffering is not easily quantified, which is why you need an attorney by your side.
Your lawyer will assess the severity of your injuries as well as the pain and overall discomfort associated with injuries due to a car crash. The attorney will also take into consideration how the injuries have impacted your life, the level of treatment you need, and your prognosis.
Diminished Source Of Income
Even when you have recovered and can get back to work, your injuries may prevent you from working full-time, or there may be certain tasks you can no longer do. Moreover, you may have lost some opportunities while you were missing work. For example, you were already up for a promotion before you got into the accident, and now someone else has taken the position.
It is also possible that you have to take on a less strenuous job after your recovery. That means you will have a diminished source of income.
If you find yourself suffering financially due to your car crash injuries and you’re not the one who’s at fault, it’s vital to ensure that you have a lawyer by your side.
An auto accident attorney will help you get the compensation you deserve. Find a reputable law firm in Florida that specializes in car accidents and can address all of your needs.