What Insurance Claims are Necessary After an Accidental Injury?

Thursday, May 7, 2020

What Insurance Claims are Necessary After an Accidental Injury?

Written by Malman Law, reviewed by Steve J. Malman.

The world is a dangerous place. On the roads, in your home, out and about in your neighborhood, while shopping, even just visiting a friend, you can suffer an accidental injury pretty much anywhere. If you do, after you receive medical treatment, you might wonder if there is compensation available to you. If there is, how do you get it? A personal injury lawsuit is an option, obviously, but that shouldn’t be the first option. There might be – and likely is – insurance available to cover your injury, whether the insurance is yours or someone else’s. 

An insurance settlement likely will be far quicker and easier than filing and pursuing a lawsuit, and many cases start there. If you have suffered an accidental injury, you should talk to a Chicago personal injury attorney who can help you with what insurance claims you should file.

The Insurance Claims You File Will Depend Upon the Circumstances of Your Accidental Injury

What kind of insurance claims you end up filing will depend upon where and how you were injured. For instance, if you are injured in an accident at home, you would file an insurance claim against your own homeowner’s policy and have your medical treatment covered by your health insurance policy. If you’re hurt in an accident at someone else’s house, you would file a claim against that person’s homeowner’s policy. And if the accidental injury were to happen at a business, you would file against that business’s premises liability policy. You get the idea.

Automobile accidents can get a little more involved. In the most common circumstances, you are involved in a car accident with another driver, your car is damaged, and you are injured. If the accident was clearly the other driver’s fault, you would file a claim against that driver’s liability policy. If it was clearly your fault, you would file a claim against your own collision policy. If both drivers are partially at fault, or if it is not clear who is at fault, you would file claims against the other driver’s policy and against your own. 

Once fault is settled, you’ll get your settlement from one policy or the other, or possibly both. If the other driver, at fault or not, has no insurance, you would file a claim against your own policy if you have uninsured/underinsured coverage. If the other driver is merely underinsured, you would file against his policy while also filing against your uninsured/underinsured coverage.

For your injuries, if the other driver is at fault or if fault isn’t clear, you would file a claim against your personal injury protection policy or your MedPay insurance. That provides immediate payments. You would also file against the other driver’s liability policy and against your own insurance if fault, but a PIP claim means you’ll be covered while the fault gets sorted out.

If You Need a Chicago Personal Injury Attorney, Contact the Lawyers of Malman Law

If you have suffered an accidental injury, in a car accident or elsewhere, you should consult with a Chicago personal injury or car accident attorney. The lawyers of Malman Law are ready to help you on both counts. You can reach us at (312) 629-0099 or through our website.