After a car accident in Connecticut, your medical bills should be covered by auto insurance, one way or another. Connecticut requires all drivers to purchase liability insurance covering bodily injury and property damage; because Connecticut is a fault insurance state, the at-fault driver's liability insurance should pay your medical bills in the event of an accident. If you were hit from behind, the other driver's fault is clear, as is his or her liability for your medical bills.
In collisions with uninsured drivers, hit-and-run accidents, and cases where the at-fault driver doesn't have enough insurance to pay the full cost of your claim, you should be covered by your uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, which is again required by law. Getting underinsured motorist conversion coverage, an optional type of coverage that eliminates financial gaps which can arise when accidents involve underinsured drivers, can make it easier to pay all of your bills.
Unfortunately, even with good coverage and laws in place to protect you, it can be difficult to actually get an insurer to pay everything that is promised. Insurers engage in many underhanded and dishonest tactics to try to avoid paying for losses. The American Association of Justice listed the 10 Worst Insurers and explained how they make lowball offers, draw out claims processes, and aggressively litigate cases when victims don't accept low settlement proposals. In particular, when handling rear-end crashes, insurance companies will often argue that the low speed of the collision couldn't have possibly caused serious injuries, even in spite of medical evidence to the contrary.
Car crashes can be very costly. The Centers for Disease Control reports that people in Connecticut spend about $5 million in medical costs annually due to motor vehicle accidents. You need to make sure you are doing everything you can to get your medical bills paid after a rear-end crash.
How to Get Your Medical Bills Paid After a Rear-End Crash
So, what can you do as a crash victim to try to make sure you get your medical bills paid after a rear-end accident happened? Here are a few tips:
- Call the police to the crash scene and get a report of the accident. The report will provide useful evidence to show who is to blame for the collision. The driver in the rear is almost always liable for crash losses, often due to distraction or following at an unsafe distance. A police report can help to show whether the front driver contributed to causing the crash.
- Get medical assistance following a rear-end crash. All drivers involved in a rear-end accident should be seen by a doctor. Sometimes, serious medical conditions aren't immediately apparent to victims because symptoms take days or weeks to manifest. Seeing a doctor lets you get an exam, find out exactly what is wrong, and document it. This way, you can prove the extent of the injuries you sustained in a collision.
- Get assistance in dealing with an insurer. Our legal team can help you estimate what your claim is worth, work to negotiate an out-of-court settlement or to litigate to get you the money you need to cover crash losses.
You do not want to end up with medical bills that you cannot pay without cutting into your budget. Don't hesitate to contact us for the help you'll need paying your bills after a rear-end crash.