Who Pays For Personal Injury in a Car Accident?

Under New York’s no-fault system, your car insurance provider should cover your medical expenses regardless of who was at fault for an accident. Furthermore, compensation can also be sought for other forms of damages such as pain and suffering.

Damages are financial compensation for losses you incurred as the result of an accident, including medical bills, property damage claims, lost wages and pain and suffering compensation.

Medical Bills

Medical expenses from car accident injuries can be costly. They include hospital bills for emergency care, specialist consultations, medications to treat pain or other conditions, physical therapy sessions and assistive devices like crutches or wheelchairs, among other costs.

Most states use at-fault drivers’ car insurance policies to cover these expenses; however, New York is one of thirteen states which use pure comparative fault rules when awarding damages; these reduce your total payout based on how much of an impactful role each party played in an accident.

To ensure they receive financial assistance for their medical bills, many individuals opt to hire an attorney to represent them in court proceedings. They can act as your primary point of contact regarding medical inquiries while potentially negotiating with the at-fault driver’s insurance provider on your behalf and offering guidance about using uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (if applicable).

Property Damage

Damages to your property – such as your vehicle and personal belongings – are often included as part of an overall compensation claim, though they must be proved separately from bodily injury claims with evidence such as repair estimates or receipts. Documentation can help establish pre-accident value.

Damage to property usually results in repair costs or replacement expenses; compensation can also include an award for diminished value awards for items no longer functioning as they did prior to an accident (e.g. older vehicles). These expenses are covered by New York no-fault insurance such as Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and any at-fault driver’s liability coverage.

If your property damage exceeds the limits of no-fault benefits, additional compensation can be sought through litigation against those at fault. Unfortunately, this process requires strong evidence to support its value – so it is imperative to report damage as soon as it occurs.

Lost Wages

Car accidents may result in injuries that prevent you from returning to work; in such an instance, compensation for lost income should be provided as part of any settlement agreement.

Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance in New York should cover immediate economic losses, including lost wages, up to the policy maximum limit. This coverage is an integral component of auto policies in this state.

However, PIP compensation alone may not always cover your lost wage compensation needs, especially if your injuries keep you from working for an extended period. Therefore, it is also wise to pursue lost wage compensation from those at fault through personal injury lawsuits or similar processes – hiring an experienced car accident lawyer will help maximize settlement amounts as they know the system better than anyone. In addition to hourly wages you might also have claims for bonuses, tips or commissions not normally considered in PIP calculations.

Pain and Suffering

Pain and suffering damages are among the hardest things to quantify in car accident claims, including physical discomfort, mental anguish and other quality-of-life impacts from injuries sustained in an accident. Proving these damages requires more work than documenting physical damages such as limited range of motion in joints or tenderness when touched.

Insurance companies use various techniques for calculating pain and suffering compensation. For instance, they might add up your medical bills and multiply them by an arbitrary factor between 1.5 to 4, 5 which might best fit your case. It is wise to consult an experienced attorney who can explain these methods to determine which method would work best in your situation. Alternatively, filing a personal injury lawsuit in court against the at-fault driver might provide more compensation than simply working through their insurance company; but only do this when their settlement offer is unreasonable.