When people think about personal injuries related to auto accidents, most of the discussion revolves around what happens with the people driving the vehicles. However, you may be a passenger that suffered an injury during a car accident, and now you're not sure how to proceed about receiving compensation. Here are two things you should know when it comes to making your own personal injury claim.
You Must Report Your Own Injury
Don't make the assumption that your injuries are automatically covered by someone else's insurance policy. You'll actually want to report your injuries to the insurance company of the person driving the vehicle you were in. If the driver was responsible, their insurance company will end up compensating you for your losses. However, if another driver was responsible, those expenses will be passed along to the appropriate person's insurance company.
Fault Makes Receiving Compensation Complicated
Chances are that you do not have any extended insurance coverage that will take care of your injuries, and you'll need to go through the insurance of the drivers of the vehicles involved in the crash. However, it can get really complicated to figure out who is paying what percentage of your bills, if anything at all, due to the determination of fault in the auto accident.
If it is determined that both drivers are assigned a percentage of fault related to the accident, then compensation will be divided between them accordingly. For example, a driver that is discovered to be 25% responsible will only have to pay for 25% of your injury related costs.
Some accidents do not have any fault at all and can leave you without any way to receive compensation for your injuries. For example, if there was an animal that ran into the road that the driver of the vehicle hit, it may be ruled an accident with the driver having no responsibility. This means you are responsible for your own injury-related expenses.
You may even be challenged by an insurance company, who could claim that you were partially responsible for the accident as one of the passengers in the vehicle. This is a way that insurance companies will try to restrict how much money they pay out to passengers.
If you feel like you're having trouble navigating your personal injury case, reach out to a lawyer in your area for assistance. Lawyers, like those represented at https://www.alexanderlaw.com/, will do all that they can to ensure you get the compensation you deserve.
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