A car accident can be a major disruption to your life. Even if you are not permanently injured, it can take months or even years to recover. Medical costs can skyrocket and lost wages due to your inability to work can frustrate you even further. Here are some options you can use to help cover your costs and losses quicker.
Liability Insurance
Liability insurance was made for crash related injuries. If you are injured in a collision that was another driver’s fault, your injuries are covered under that driver’s liability insurance policy. Likewise, if you are at fault, your liability policy would cover the other driver. Bodily Injury Liability coverage on an insurance plan covers medical expenses, loss of income and pain and suffering.
Medical Payments Coverage
It can sometimes take months or even years to get a settlement check from a liability claim. In the mean time, there are medical bills piling up. This is why your auto plan has a medical payments plan. Your medical payments plan can help you to pay for your medical bills while you wait for the other driver’s liability insurance company to settle and cut you a check. Once you receive your settlement check, your insurance company will expect to be reimbursed for the money they fronted you through the medical payments plan.
Using Your Health Insurance Plan
In many instances your health insurance plan can be used to cover personal injury costs after an accident. Some health insurance companies will expect to be reimbursed once you get a settlement from the auto insurance company, but there are many that don’t. Check your health policy closely. If they do not expect to be reimbursed you could save hundreds, maybe even thousands of dollars by using your health insurance plan rather than the medical payments coverage through your auto insurance.
No Fault Insurance
If you live in a no fault state, there is another option available to you. You can use your no fault insurance policy to cover yourself. Rather than having to prove fault and wait for the claim against the other driver’s liability insurance policy, you can use your no fault policy. With a no fault policy you are guaranteed to be covered up to the policy limits without having to prove anyone to be at fault for the accident. The drawbacks to this are that if your costs exceed the policy limits, you will need to initiate a claim against the other driver’s liability policy. Also, in many cases your no fault policy will expect reimbursement from any settlement you receive.