Few things are scarier than receiving a call that a loved one has been involved in a car accident. Even after the initial scare of not knowing if the person is OK and will make it, stress and anxiety levels can skyrocket. This is especially true if the person injured is your spouse and the primary bread winner of the family.
If this has happened to you, you are most likely faced with questions like:
– How are we going to pay the medical bills?
– What is going to happen to her job?
– How will we put food on the table?
– Who is going to help me with the kids?
– How am I going to be able to care for her after she is out of the hospital?
In order to give your spouse the best chance at a full recovery and also to protect your family’s legal rights, here are some important steps to take:
1. Get your spouse the medical treatment that she needs, making sure to follow all of the doctor’s orders.
2. Find out the insurance coverage of the at-fault party’s insurance to see if there is enough to cover the cost of the medical bills.
3. Find out how much uninsured and underinsured coverage you have on your own policy, in the event that the at-fault party does not have enough.
4. Utilize the medical payments coverage on your policy. This money will help cover the costs of co-pays, prescriptions, medical supplies, and any other out-of-pocket medical expenses.
5. Request that your spouse’s doctor put in writing the amount of time she is being kept off of work for when it comes time to calculate and prove lost wages.
6. Do not sign anything without first reviewing it with an attorney, especially if they are documents provided by the at-fault party’s insurance company.
Need help navigating the complicated world of helping your spouse through a serious car accident? We are here to help you help her. Call Garrett, Walker, & Aycoth today at 336-379-0539 and let us take the burden of handling a car accident claim off of your shoulders so that you can focus on what matters most: your loved one.