You’re a responsible adult. You pay your bills on time. You work a good job. You take care of your family. Unfortunately, no matter how fastidious you are at handling your personal life and finances, you can’t control everything that happens to you.
All it takes is another driver making a bad decision, such as reading a text message or sending an email, to leave you with serious injuries and financial problems. You might assume that because you have a good motor vehicle insurance policy that you won’t have to worry about the financial consequences of a crash clearly caused by another driver. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case.
Car insurance settlements can take some time to secure
You likely understand that you have rights when someone else causes a crash. These include the right to medical care. Seeking treatment for injuries after an accident is important. Unfortunately, your medical insurance company may deny claims related to a car accident.
Many times, they will attempt to subrogate the coverage for your medical care to the car insurance company that provided the policy for the other driver. Your personal automobile insurance policy will likely take the same approach. They won’t want to pay anything directly if they can avoid doing so.
Instead, they will try to hold the insurance company for the other driver responsible for the financial implications of the crash. While they battle it out over who is in the right, you will likely continue to require medical care. You may have to have surgery, see a physical therapist or otherwise rack up substantial medical bills related to the injury from the crash.
The other driver might not even have insurance
It is frightening to acknowledge, but a small portion of the people on the road on any given day in Oklahoma don’t have insurance on their vehicles. Whether policies have elapsed because someone forgot to make a payment or because they simply couldn’t afford the insurance, uninsured drivers pose a financial risk for everyone else on the road.
If you don’t have the right insurance coverage, your company may offer you very little protection when the other driver doesn’t have an insurance policy in place. Hospitals and other medical facilities will be patient up to a point regarding billing. However, if several weeks go by without resolution, they will likely begin collection activity. That could impact your credit score and your financial future.
Insurance companies can abuse your financial situation
Concerns about how payment delays will impact your credit may make you susceptible to the insurance companies. They could offer you settlements that are far too low to cover your actual costs. In the moment, worried about paying your bills and avoiding collections, you may not fully consider the impact of an inadequate settlement.
Discussing your situation with an Oklahoma attorney is a wise choice. Not only can they negotiate on your behalf with the insurance company, but they can also help you determine if a settlement offer is too low for the injuries you suffered.
