Who Pays Your Medical Bills After an Accident?

Well, generally speaking, your own car insurance does. Bills are paid through PIP (personal injury protection). In WA, this is a waivable coverage (don’t waive it, I tell you). If you don’t waive it, you likely have $10,000 in basic medical coverage and limited wage loss coverage, etc. In OR, it’s a mandatory coverage and you likely have $15k in coverage. You will need to give your medical providers your PIP information including adjuster name and claim number so they can bill it to the right place. You may need to fill out medical releases and a PIP application with your insurance company to get this coverage going.

If, for whatever reason, you have no PIP (you may have waived it, it may have exhausted, or expired), then your health insurance gets billed next. You will want all your providers to have your health insurance information as well. You might incur copays and deductibles with your health insurance and they may or may not cover some of the doctors you want to see which is why PIP is a good thing!

Occasionally, if the at fault driver was charged with a crime, there might be a victim’s fund through the state that can be tapped into or restitution that the other driver is ordered to pay as part of the criminal case.

Sometimes, bills with your providers may remain unpaid. They will want to be paid at some point out of 3rd party proceeds. Sometimes they are sent to collections, and sometimes providers will treat with a letter of protection that helps protect their reimbursement interests. If you are out of money to pay your providers, talk to them up front and explain your situation and see if you can work out a payment plan or if they will take a letter of protection to keep your account out of collections. Generally speaking, providers will only take a letter of protection from an attorney’s office, so if you haven’t already done so, now is a great time to call one! Attorney consults are generally free! Pick up the phone!