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If you’ve been in an accident and can’t work because of it, you still have to pay your bills. You may not be able to work for days, weeks or even months, but you still have to pay your mortgage, rent, utilities or loans. This is the case no matter what type of accident you’ve been in: car wreck, truck wreck, medical negligence, slip and fall, product defect, etc.
The good news – If the accident was due to another person’s negligence, you may be able to file a personal injury claim and get reimbursed for past and future medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering.
The bad news – a personal injury claim can sometimes take months to resolve.
So what can you do if you’re injured, unable to work, and have mounting medical bills and living expenses but no income to pay them?
If you live in Georgia there are some places you can turn to for help:
- Disability Insurance – If you have a disability insurance policy then you may be able to get short-term or long-term disability benefits to cover a percentage of your income while you’re injured and unable to work. I encourage anyone who is offered this type of coverage by his or her employer to take advantage of it – it can be expensive to purchase individually.
- Medical Payments Coverage (‘MedPay’) – If you have Medpay coverage on your auto insurance policy, it should pay for medical bills while you’re injured. This is an optional coverage that you can add to your auto policy. I encourage everyone to talk to his or her insurance agent about having this coverage added.
- Work Loss Car Insurance Policy (also called Optional Basic Economic Loss or Loss of Income Insurance Coverage) – If you are injured in an auto accident and can’t work because of it, this type of insurance policy may pay some or all of your income while you’re unable to work. You should talk to your insurance agent about purchasing this type of coverage.
- Loans – If you have no other options, you can take out a loan to pay for expenses while you’re injured and can’t work. It is generally not allowed for lawyers to loan money to clients, but we can suggest more reputable companies to help you out financially while your personal injury claim is ongoing.
If you’ve been injured and are unable to work you are probably feeling physical and emotional pain. It is a very stressful experience. A personal injury lawyer can help ease some of the stress that accompanies such a traumatic event. Our firm offers consultations about your case at no charge to you. The sooner you get help from a personal injury lawyer the sooner you can start to get your life back on track again.