Question:
I was injured in a car accident and transported by a Life Flight (air ambulance) to a hospital. The bill is $32,000. I wasn’t at fault for the accident and have no health insurance. What if the other driver doesn’t have enough insurance to pay the bill?
Answer:
Medevac bills are commonly $25,000 or more. If you were transported from the scene of a car accident by an air ambulance, that means you sustained serious injuries, even life-threatening. Because of the condition you were in, you likely had no say in whether to be transported by helicopter to the hospital.
It’s quite possible that the other driver’s auto insurance policy limit will be insufficient to pay the life flight bill. Generally, the lowest car insurance bodily injury policy limit in California is $15,000 per person. This is a very common policy limit. Drivers opt for this coverage because it is the least expensive. If you were hit by a driver with this policy limit, then there won’t be enough money to pay the life flight bill, let alone your hospital bill, or the bills you incurred after being released from the hospital.
Hopefully you have “uninsured motorist coverage” on your own auto insurance policy. Whether you were driving, walking or biking at the time of the accident, your uninsured motorist coverage will cover you if you were hit by a car and the accident was not your fault. If you have uninsured motorist coverage with a policy limit that is higher than the other driver’s policy limit, then you can make an “underinsured” motorist claim after you collect the other driver’s policy limit. Doing so will not cause your auto insurance rates to go up; it will have zero impact on your premiums.
If you suffered serious injuries in a car crash or any type of accident, and the accident was not your fault, you should seek the advice of an experienced personal injury law firm.
The lawyers at McGee, Lerer & associates are available 24/7 for a free consultation. If you decide to hire our firm, you pay us nothing upfront. We get paid at the end of the case, out of the settlement paid by the insurance company. If there is no settlement, we are paid nothing.