Managing Your Finances After Suffering An Accident-Related Injury
Managing their finances after sustaining a serious injury often proves to be one of the most difficult aspects of post-accident recovery for many victims. This can be particularly frustrating for those who weren’t at fault for their accidents, but were the victims of someone else’s carelessness. There are, however, steps that accident victims can take to keep their finances in a manageable condition until they can recover compensation from their insurers or from the at-fault party who caused the injury.
Serious Injuries Can Impact Your Finances
Suffering an injury, especially when that injury qualifies as serious, can have significant financial repercussions for an accident victim, as it could:
- Result in an inability to earn a wage, which can be financially devastating, making it difficult to cover expenses like rent and mortgage payments, utility bills, and car payments;
- Impact his or her future earnings by causing that person to miss out on promotions and professional development opportunities, or even forcing him or her to accept lower paying, less physically demanding work; or
- Result in ongoing medical expenses, which often crop up for those who have sustained serious injuries and may pile up for months or even years to come.
All of these repercussions can make it hard, if not impossible to stay on top of mounting medical bills and other expenses, which can be frightening for accident victims. Fortunately, there are steps that injured parties can take to help manage their finances while they recover.
Tips for Managing Your Finances
One of the first things that an injured party should do after being involved in an accident is to reach out to insurance providers for help covering the cost of medical bills and lost wages. It’s important for injured parties to understand the terms of each of their policies, so that they don’t miss out on benefits that could help them shoulder their financial burdens. Which types of insurance a person utilizes will, however, depend on the type of accident in question. For instance, those who are injured in car accidents in Florida can seek compensation under their Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance. These policies cover 80 percent of a person’s medical expenses and 60 percent of lost wages up to a $10,000 limit. Someone who was injured in a slip and fall accident, on the other hand, may need to seek compensation through the property owner’s homeowners’ insurance policy. Besides seeking help from insurers, injured parties can:
- Minimize their expenses by unsubscribing from non-essential services and generally trying to cut down on expenditures;
- Renegotiate their loans, enabling them to make smaller, more consistent payments;
- Apply for Social Security benefits if their injury resulted in a long-term disability; and
- Seek compensation from the at-fault party who caused the accident by filing a personal injury lawsuit in court.
To learn more about your own post-accident recovery options, reach out to our legal team today.
Set Up a Free Case Review
If you were hurt in an accident and are feeling overwhelmed by your medical bills, don’t hesitate to call the dedicated Florida personal injury lawyers at Boone & Davis for help.
Sources:
finance-monthly.com/2021/09/financial-recovery-tips-after-getting-into-a-car-accident/
flhsmv.gov/insurance/
