Accidents cause injuries. Worse, injuries create medical bills. Medical fees from a typical car accident average $29,000. With such high costs, paying your medical bills after a car accident can be a struggle.
If you’ve been injured in a car crash, you might wonder, “Who will pay my medical bills?” The good news is that there are ways to pay them. Here’s what to know about paying your medical bills after a car accident.
Before we begin, remember that every car accident case is unique. So, the answer to “Who will pay my medical bills after a car accident?” will depend on the circumstances in your case. But some things appear in many cases. This article will look at some of the most common options for payment of medical bills after car accidents.
Types of medical bills after a car accident
Medical expenses can pile up quickly after an accident. For example, if you need to take an ambulance to the emergency room after the accident, you will be billed for those services. Other typical medical bills after a car accident include:
- Visits to your primary care doctor,
- Visits to specialty doctors,
- Visits to urgent care clinics or emergency rooms,
- Surgeries,
- Laboratory tests,
- Imaging (X-rays, MRIs, etc.),
- Physical therapy visits,
- Medical devices, and
- Prescriptions.
If you are billed for any of these, you may be entitled to compensation.
Who May Be Responsible for Paying Your Medical Bills
Employer Liability & Commercial Insurance
If you get hurt in a wreck with a driver who’s on the job, you might assume that only the driver’s personal auto policy will cover your medical bills. In some crashes, though, the driver’s employer may be responsible for your losses in addition to, or instead of, the driver.
Alabama’s “respondeat superior” doctrine allows you to hold employers liable when their employees cause accidents while acting within the scope of their employment. This means that if the driver was driving to a job site, operating a company vehicle, or running an errand for the company at the time of the wreck, their employer may share responsibility.
Employer liability can make a huge difference in your recovery because businesses often carry higher insurance limits than individuals. Commercial auto insurance in Alabama often covers company-owned vehicles and, in some cases, vehicles employees use for work. Some businesses also carry commercial general liability policies that can provide accident coverage depending on the policy’s terms.
Commercial insurance companies review evidence such as time records, job duties, and trip purposes to determine whether an employee was acting within the scope of employment at the time of the crash. If the facts suggest that the driver was indeed on the job, you could be entitled to compensation through their employer’s commercial coverage.
Workers’ Compensation for Work-Related Crashes
If you suffered injuries in a collision while you were driving for work, workers’ compensation may cover your medical bills. Alabama’s workers’ compensation system pays for authorized medical treatment when an employee’s injury arises out of and in the course of their employment. In this context, an injury “arises out of and in the course of employment” when it results directly from your job duties and happens while you are performing work-related activities.
The nice thing about workers’ compensation benefits is that you don’t need to prove fault to receive them. As long as you are a covered employee and your crash injuries occurred on the job, your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance should pay for any medically necessary treatment. It can also provide wage-replacement benefits if your injuries keep you from working during your recovery.
In some cases, work-related accidents also involve negligent third parties, such as other drivers. In those situations, you could have both a workers’ compensation claim and a separate injury claim against the third party. The timing and coordination of these claims can affect how much money you ultimately receive. So, if you know or suspect that you have both types of claims, it’s best to work with a lawyer who can keep everything on track and maximize your payout.
Claims Against Other Liable Parties
In some crashes, someone other than the at-fault driver could share responsibility for your injuries and related losses. For example, the owner of the vehicle that hit you could be liable in certain situations, even if they weren’t in the car at the time. If the owner knowingly allowed an inexperienced, reckless, or unlicensed driver to use their car, you may have a negligent entrustment claim against the owner.
If the accident involved an intoxicated driver, dram shop liability could be a factor. This is a type of liability that applies to establishments that serve alcohol to people who shouldn’t be drinking. If a bar, restaurant, or other business illegally serves alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person who then causes a crash, you may have a dram shop liability claim against that business.
If you have one or more of these additional types of claims, it can increase the pool of insurance coverage available for your medical expenses. Vehicle owners may carry separate liability policies, while businesses often carry commercial policies with higher limits than an individual driver would have.
Assuming multiple parties contributed to the crash, you’ll need a legal strategy that identifies each source of coverage and proves how their conduct contributed to your injuries. That’s where an experienced car accident lawyer comes in. They can review your situation, explain your options, and demand fair compensation from all responsible parties on your behalf.
Options for Paying Medical Bills After a Car Accident
Option #1 – The other driver’s insurance policy
The most common way of paying your medical bills after a car accident is filing a claim with the other driver’s auto insurance company. This is called a third-party insurance claim.
Filing an insurance claim is a pretty straightforward process. But filing a claim does not always result in the payment of medical bills for at least two reasons.
First, insurance companies and insurance adjusters are always looking for reasons to deny claims. They might argue that your injuries are not that severe or that your course of treatment was not medically recommended or too aggressive. An Alabama accident attorney will know how to fight back against the insurance company’s claims.
Second, the insurance company might say that you caused the accident. Alabama follows a rule called contributory negligence. This rule says that if a person is even 1% responsible for causing an accident, they cannot recover any damages. Any evidence that you caused the accident will give the insurance company an excuse to deny your claim.
Option #2 – Your health insurance policy
You can ask your health insurance company to cover your car accident medical bills. Most private health insurance companies (i.e., not Medicare or Medicaid) will pay medical bills related to a car accident. The process works like any other health insurance claim that you would file – but with one major difference.
Let’s say that your health insurance company pays your medical bills after the auto accident. Then, you settle with the other driver. You will have to use part of the settlement to repay the health insurance company. This process – called subrogation – can be complicated. A Birmingham personal injury lawyer can help you understand how everything works.
Option #3 – Your own auto insurance policy
Sometimes, your car insurance policy is the best choice for paying your medical bills after a car accident. There are three times when you should consider filing a claim with your insurance company.
First, if the other driver doesn’t have insurance, your own policy is the best bet. In Alabama, every driver who buys an auto policy must be offered Uninsured Motorist /Underinsured Motorist coverage (UI/UIM coverage). If your policy has this coverage, you can file a claim that will pay if an uninsured driver hits you.
Second, the same principle applies if the other driver is underinsured. An underinsured driver has insurance, but the limits are too low to cover your medical bills. Currently, Alabama law only requires drivers to buy auto policies that cover $25,000 worth of bodily injuries per person. So, if the other driver has a $25,000 limit but your medical bills total more than $25,000, your own policy’s UI/UIM coverage is the way to go.
Finally, if you don’t have health insurance, you should check your auto insurance policy to see if you have medical payment coverage (also called “MedPay”). If your car insurance policy has MedPay, it will cover some of your medical expenses. Even better, MedPay applies no matter who was at fault.
Option #4 – The hospital
Believe it or not, most hospitals will treat car accident victims without charging them immediately. But the care isn’t entirely free. The hospital will file something called a lien against you. The lien gives the hospital the power to collect its money back if you settle or win a verdict. Your Alabama injury lawyer can tell you more about how hospital liens work.
Option #5 – Your lawyer
Did you know that a lawyer can help you pay for healthcare after a car accident? If you don’t have health insurance, your accident lawyer might be able to negotiate something with the hospital or doctors.
The agreement would let you get medical treatment now and pay for it when the settlement or verdict is paid. This process is called an attorney’s medical lien. If you’re having trouble paying your medical bills after a car accident, your Birmingham injury attorney might be able to help you set up a deal with a medical provider.
Hit-and-Run & Uninsured Motorist Claims
If the at-fault driver has no insurance or leaves the scene before you can identify them, it can raise understandable concerns about who pays medical bills after a car accident. In those cases, uninsured motorist (UM) coverage can help.
A similar type of coverage called underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage could also apply if the at-fault driver’s insurance policy limits do not fully cover your losses. Both UM and UIM coverage can provide compensation for your medical expenses, income shortfalls, and other crash-related losses, up to your policy limits.
UM coverage is optional in Alabama, but the law requires insurers to offer it with all auto policies, so you should have it unless you rejected it in writing when you chose your policy. Assuming you carry either UM or UIM coverage, you can file a claim under your own car insurance policy after an accident to get medical coverage.
After you file, your carrier will evaluate fault, medical records, and your expenses, much like it would in a claim against another driver’s insurance company.
When Insurance Limits Aren’t Enough
Serious crashes can lead to substantial medical costs that exceed the at-fault driver’s liability limits. In Alabama, minimum policy limits often don’t come close to covering emergency care, surgeries, rehabilitation, and ongoing treatment. If that happens, you might need to look beyond the negligent driver’s policy to avoid paying out of pocket.
UIM coverage can provide a valuable source of compensation in these cases. If your losses exceed the at-fault driver’s policy limits, and you have UIM coverage, you may file a claim with your own insurer.
Your provider can then pay the difference between what the other driver’s policy provides and your total expenses, up to your own UIM policy limits. You must typically exhaust the other driver’s liability coverage before you can access UIM benefits.
Other policies could also help. For example, an employer’s commercial policy, an umbrella policy, or coverage held by another liable party could increase what’s available. In some situations, you could even sue the at-fault driver directly to demand that they pay you from their personal assets.
An attorney can help you identify every available layer of coverage to help you pay your medical expenses in full.
Additional Compensation Beyond Medical Bills
Medical expenses often represent only part of your losses after a crash. Alabama law also allows you to seek compensation for other out-of-pocket expenses that result from your injuries, including:
- Income losses if you miss work while you recover
- Losses in your future earning capacity if you suffer long-term or permanent injuries
- Pain and suffering – the physical discomfort and emotional distress you suffer due to the crash
- Reductions in your overall quality or enjoyment of life
- Long-term disability and future medical treatment, in cases involving severe injuries
Insurance companies evaluate these additional losses carefully and often challenge their value to limit what they must pay you. Documentation such as employment records, medical opinions, and expert opinions can all influence how insurers calculate the total amount they owe beyond your medical bills.
Proving Fault Under Alabama’s Contributory Negligence Rule
Alabama follows a strict contributory negligence rule. Under this rule, you can lose the right to demand compensation from other parties if you bear even 1 percent of the fault for the crash. Insurance companies know the Alabama contributory negligence rule and often search for ways to shift blame onto you so they don’t have to cover your losses.
Evidence preservation is highly important in Alabama car accident cases because of this strict legal standard. An attorney can take immediate steps to protect evidence while you focus on your recovery. They can contact witnesses while memories are fresh, photograph vehicle damage and road conditions before they’re repaired, and send preservation letters to prevent others from deleting surveillance footage or electronic data.
When you have a lawyer to help you get to the evidence early on, it reduces opportunities for insurers to argue that you’re at fault.
It’s also worth noting that Alabama recognizes the last clear chance doctrine in injury cases. Under this rule, you may still recover if the other driver had the final opportunity to avoid the crash but failed to do so. This doctrine applies in limited circumstances and depends heavily on the facts.
If an insurer argues that you were at fault, your lawyer can provide a legal strategy that addresses each allegation directly.
Handling Medical Bills While Your Case Is Pending
Medical bills often become due long before accident injury claims get resolved. While your case moves forward, you may receive collection notices or statements showing outstanding balances, which can be extremely stressful when you’re supposed to be focused on recovery.
The good news is that you have options. Health insurance coverage may pay for some medical care costs after you exhaust all available auto insurance coverage.
Health insurance providers may demand repayment from your claim settlement if they cover your crash-related bills, but an attorney can negotiate with them to protect as much of your money as possible.
At Collins Law, our Alabama car accident lawyers can also step in and work with your medical providers to adjust payment timing. We can communicate about the status of your case, request that providers hold bills in abeyance when possible, and negotiate payment arrangements that delay collection efforts.
In some cases, providers may agree to wait for payment from a future settlement rather than demand immediate payment in full.
Need help paying medical bills after a car accident?
If you’ve been worried about paying your medical bills after a car accident, Collins Law, LLC can help. We handle car crashes, trucking accidents, and many other types of collisions.
Our firm will work tirelessly to get you the compensation that you deserve. If you’d like to see how our firm can help you, call us at 205-588-1411 or use our website’s online scheduling tool.
