When you’re a passenger in a vehicle, you never expect to get in a car accident. You put your trust in the driver to get you to where you need to go safely, but accidents happen when you least expect it. Medical bills and missed work are things that you, as a passenger, will want covered by insurance… the question is, who’s insurance?
The first thing you need to worry about it getting medical attention if necessary. In all cases, the most important thing is the well-being of everyone involved in the accident.
After receiving medical care or realizing you don’t need any, now it’s important to collect all information from the driver and the other vehicle’s driver (if one was involved). Make sure you get the insurance information from both parties, as well as contact information.
Once you get in the car with someone, it’s their responsibility to drive responsibly. If they caused you injury by driving recklessly or getting in an accident that was their fault, then their insurance should cover your medical bills. In this instance, you would file a claim against the driver to receive the compensation from the insurance.
Cases get a little trickier when the other vehicle’s driver is at fault. To receive compensation from his/her insurance, you must prove that he was at fault (this will be through witness testimonies, pictures, and other evidence). In some cases, this can be a tricky claim and we always recommend hiring a personal injury lawyer to help you.
It’s also important to note that you do have the ability to sue for more compensation in some instances. This extra compensation would be needed to cover medical bills from a serious injury you sustained from the accident, and would be filed against the driver (although, if you are related to the driver you could be considered insured under their insurance already, and couldn’t get more compensation). Obviously, this depends on a case to case basis.
If you believe you are not getting the compensation you deserve, hire an experienced traffic accident attorney like Tad Morlan. You can call 1-800-246-8000 to get a free consultation, or talk more about the case you are trying to file.
