Were you seriously injured in a car accident? Check out these 4 car accident tips about a car accident in Texas to find out how we handle these claims.
1. Filing Accident Claim with an Uninsured Driver
If you’ve been in a car accident and the other driver doesn’t have insurance, the fact of the matter is that’s not good for you. About the only thing that we can go after is their liability insurance. Your own uninsured motorist protection can help you out, In Texas, unless that other driver is Bill Gates, insurance is the only thing you can go after. If they don’t have insurance, there’s not a lot that anybody can do for you.
2. Underinsured Motorist Coverage
Texas insurance policies provide for uninsured or underinsured insurance coverage. You have to ask for it and you have to pay an extra premium, but it’s very cost-effective and it’s very important. In Texas, some of the latest statistics tell us that one out of every four drivers on the road doesn’t have insurance. We’re all supposed to. The law says you have to have insurance, but the fact is there are a lot of irresponsible people out there that don’t.
If you get hit by one of those people, you need uninsured motorist protection. If somebody with a minimum insurance policy slams into you, causes catastrophic injuries, and all they have is $30,000 of insurance coverage, then you’re going to need underinsured coverage. What that does is provides a second layer of coverage. For instance, if you had a $100,000 uninsured/underinsured coverage on your policy, and somebody hits you that only has $30,000 in coverage, right off the bat you’ve got $130,000 of available benefits to take care of the injuries caused in that car crash.
3. Medical Bills
In Texas, when you’re injured in a car crash, there are a couple of things going on. If you have health insurance, they will pay for those bills. It’s becoming more and more complicated and some health insurance companies don’t like paying for those bills, but we’ll navigate those waters for you.
The thing to keep in mind, however, is if your health insurance company pays for your medical bills and then you recover money from the person who hit you, you have to pay back your health insurance company. Health insurance is there primarily if you have a cold or a sore throat. They will pay the bills for a car wreck, but they just have a law – it’s called subrogation – and it’s written in your insurance policy that says if you recover from that wrongdoer, you have to pay them back. With an experienced law firm, they’re going to call that health insurance company and say, “We did all the work. We got this money back for you, and there are Texas laws that say you can’t have it all because the person who suffered the injuries is really the one who needs it.” We’ll negotiate that, we’ll lower what we have to pay back to the health insurance company, and that puts more money in your pocket. That puts more money available for you to take care of whatever happened to you.
4. Lost Wage Reimbursement
If you’ve been in a car accident in Texas and it’s prevented you from going to work, whether that’s for three days, a week, or longer, you’re entitled to compensation for that lost time. Even if your employer allows you to take it as vacation time or doesn’t penalize you for it, you’re still losing something of value. For example, if you made $5 an hour and you work 10 hours a day, that’s $50 a day that’s coming out of your pocket because someone was careless, caused you an injury, and you’re missing time from work. Whatever your pay rate is, whatever your salary is, for that number of days, weeks, or months, you’re entitled to it. If it goes into the future, you’re entitled to what that would calculate out to as well.
Were you or a loved one involved in a crash and have questions about what the next step is? After checking out our 4 car accident tips, contact a San Antonio Car Accident Lawyer at Rush & Gransee today for a free confidential consultation. Let our experience work for you.
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