Who pays for my bills?
Hi, I’m Dan Friedman We are frequently asked by our clients why their insurance companies have to pay for medical bills when they were injured because of someone else’s negligence. It is easy to understand why this seems odd. Why should your health or auto insurance carrier have to pay for medical bills if someone else was at fault? The answer has to do with timing. In theory, shortly after an accident, you could easily settle with the at-fault party’s insurance company and have money to pay for your medical bills.
In practice, this is NEVER a good idea. An insurance company for a negligent individual or business will never make a liability payment to an injured person without having the injured party sign a release. By signing a release the injured person can never recover another cent. An injured person should NEVER sign a release without being quite sure about the extent of an injury.
It frequently takes an injured person at least a year to heal such that the treating doctor can determine whether an injury is going to be permanent. During that period of medical treatment and healing, the injured person needs a way to pay the medical bills. Those bills can be paid by the person’s own health or auto insurance, depending on the type of injury. When the case is settled with the at- fault party, the injured person’s insurance company is paid back.
If you have questions, please call us at 800-876-1093. There is never a charge to find out if we can help you. Thanks for logging in.