In most cases, the liable or at-fault party is the one who pays for medical bills after a Virginia auto accident. In other cases, you may need to use your own insurance or pay out of pocket.
Our Virginia car accident lawyers will explain what this means for you below.
The Person Who Caused Your Accident Typically Pays Your Medical Bills After an Auto Accident
Typically, the at-fault driver or another liable party will cover your medical bills after a car crash. It’s important to note that this means their insurance typically covers your medical bills.
This means that they may cover any or all of the following expenses on your behalf:
- Emergency transportation, such as ambulance or Medevac
- Emergency treatment, such as wound cleaning, wound debriding, emergency surgery, X-rays, MRIs, casts, or splints
- Hospitalization costs
- Any future medical care, including future surgeries, future in-home care, rehab, and physical therapy
The costs of your copays are also recoverable.
You Must Prove That the Other Driver Caused Your Accident
The other driver will likely cover your medical bills, but only if you are able to prove that they are liable for your accident. This involves establishing the following tenets:
- Duty of care: The other driver must have owed you a duty of care. This is typically straightforward as all drivers owe other road users a duty to drive safely and do what they can to prevent an accident.
- Breach of duty: The other driver must have breached that duty. Typically, this breach is some form of negligence, such as driving while distracted, driving while intoxicated, driving while fatigued, speeding, following too closely, weaving through traffic, failing to check blind spots, failing to adapt to weather conditions, and failing to obey traffic signals.
- Causation: The breach of duty must have caused your accident and injuries. For example, a distracted driver failed to stop at a red light and T-boned your vehicle in the intersection. You suffered lacerations, a traumatic brain injury (TBI), internal bleeding, and broken bones.
- Damages: You suffered damages, such as medical bills, lost wages, lost earning capacity, and “pain and suffering” and inconvenience.
Evidence that could help you prove the elements of negligence include:
- The accident report
- Photo and video of the accident and accident scene
- Eyewitness testimony
- Expert witness testimony
Your medical bills, W-2s, medical records, prognosis, and other receipts will help establish your damages.
Parties That Might Be Liable for a Virginia Car Accident
Several parties may share liability for a car crash in Virginia. These parties could include:
- Another driver
- The driver’s employer (If the other party was driving for work during the accident, their employer may share liability. This is due to vicarious liability laws, which hold an employer liable for their employees’ negligence, so long as they were acting within the scope of their employment.)
- A maintenance company
If you were hit by a truck, the cargo loaders or shipping company could also share liability.
You May Need to Use Your Own Insurance to Cover Your Medical Bills
In some cases, you will need to use your own insurance to cover your medical bills and other losses.
This is typically the case when the other driver is uninsured, underinsured, or left the scene of the accident. You may need to use your Medical Expenses Payments coverage, also called MedPay. It will cover your medical bills for all reasonable and necessary expenses, including:
- Medical
- Dental
- Chiropractic
- Surgical and hospital costs
- Rehabilitation services
- Prosthetics
- Emergency care from EMTs
Not everyone has this type of insurance, but our team can help you explore your options.
You can also use your uninsured/uninsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage. Virginia state law requires all insurance policies to carry this coverage.
What Other Damages Will the Other Party Cover?
You could recover compensation for all your injuries and their effects on your life. Other recoverable damages include:
- Lost wages
- Lost earning capacity
- Miscellaneous expenses, such as
- “Pain and suffering” and inconvenience
If you lost a loved one in a Virginia car accident, you can recover the following:
- Medical bills your loved one incurred before their passing
- Lost income, including wages and benefits
- Lost services and assistance
- Funeral and burial expenses
- Sorrow and mental anguish
- Lost guidance and advice
- Lost companionship, society, and comfort
- Lost care and protection
We will ensure that your claim includes all your damages.
What Can I Do if the Insurance Company Is Refusing to Cover My Medical Bills or Other Losses?
The insurance company should cover the injuries and losses its policyholder causes. Unfortunately, it is rarely this easy. This may also be the case even with your own insurer. However, you don’t need to handle this process alone. A Virginia personal injury lawyer from our firm will manage every aspect of your case. And you have a secret weapon in your arsenal when you work with us.
Our firm’s founder used to represent insurance companies in claim disputes. This means he knows how they operate and the tactics they use to deny or devalue claims. He can use that information and experience to protect you and your claim and fight for every dollar you deserve.
See Who Will Pay for Your Car Accident Medical Bills During a FREE Claim Review
You can learn more about who might be liable for your injuries and losses during a FREE claim review with our team. We will learn more about your case while you learn more about us and what we can do for you. If we determine that we can help you, we will draft a customized case plan that details your next steps.
You can then get our help with no upfront or out-of-pocket costs. In fact, since we work on a contingency-fee basis, you only pay us if we recover compensation for you.
Call the Parrish Law Firm, PLLC, today to get started for free.
Call or Text 571-229-1800 or Complete a Free Case Evaluation form