If you’ve been rendered unable to work in the aftermath of an accident, you may be struggling to manage your expenses – especially if you’ve taken an inadequate settlement. What can you do when the finances get tight? You have a few options that can help you manage your expenses if you haven’t had much income recently.
Talk To Your Lawyer
Lawyers are expensive, so this may seem like terrible advice, when you’re running low on funds, but your lawyer is the person most likely to know whether or not there are other sources of financial support available. They can help you review the accident evidence and pursue appropriate assistance from liable parties, doctors, or community organizations.
Consulting your lawyer is also likely to be less expensive that you expect because injury lawyers typically only collect fees proportional to what you collect on the claim. When you collect more due to injury, so does your lawyer.
Whose Fault? No Fault?
In the U.S., there are 12 states with no-fault accident laws. This means that in most circumstances, you can’t take others involved in the accident to court, and all payouts come from your insurance. Unfortunately, that means you can’t collect on factors like pain and suffering.
If your injury is more severe however – typically when it crosses a certain level for out of pocket expenses – you may still be able to file charges against other parties. Talk to your lawyer to find out if you can extend your settlement in this way. It’s important for you to keep a good record of any injuries and bills if you hope to make such a claim.
Help From Health Insurance
Filing with your health insurance is an important part of managing your expenses after a car accident, but don’t forget to keep them abreast of your settlement. Typically, if your health insurance has agreed to cover care for accident injuries, they can demand reimbursement from the settlement. However, you insurance is unlikely to have a cap on how much they’ll pay out – or at least it will be much higher that your auto insurance’s personal injury protection cap.
Be Persistent
The most important thing to do if you’re struggling after an auto accident is not to give up on getting a settlement that meets your need. It can take a long time, and when you’re struggling to work and keep up with day to day life after injury or trauma, the wait can seem interminable. Keep pressing on until you receive a satisfactory solution. You shouldn’t have to compromise your financial well being because you were hurt in an accident.
Sometimes settling an accident claim can take over a year – which hopefully means you’ll already be back to work. Seek support from friends and family and let them help you through this time.