When you are injured in a pedestrian accident, you have a number of options for getting compensation for your injuries.
Your Health Insurer Will Cover Medical Bills
If you have health insurance, you can submit your claims for medical care to your insurer. Your insurer will pay medical bills for covered treatment minus deductibles and coinsurance costs. You cannot recover other losses from them, such as lost wages. And you may owe a considerable amount out-of-pocket depending on your insurance.
If your insurer pays your bills and you later make a claim for compensation from an at-fault driver, your health insurer may try to recover the funds they paid out from any settlement you receive.
Your Auto Insurer May Provide Compensation
If you have Medical Payments Coverage or Personal Injury Protection, your auto insurer will pay for your injuries in pedestrian accidents–up to policy limits.
Personal Injury Protection (PIP) is typically required in states that follow no-fault rules. Under these rules, you may be required to go through your own insurer for more minor accidents. With PIP, your insurer covers partial lost wages in addition to medical costs. However, the limits may not be very high for these types of policies.
An At-Fault Driver May Provide Compensation
If a driver was fully or partly at fault for hurting you, you can make a claim with their insurer. The other driver’s liability insurer will pay your damages if they accept fault. You can pursue this type of claim for any pedestrian accident in fault states or when you suffer serious injuries in no-fault states.
You can recover compensation through an out-of-court settlement if the other driver’s insurer makes a settlement offer you are happy with. Or you could sue and the court would award you damages if you prove your case.
An At-Fault Driver’s Employer Could Compensate You
If a driver was on the job at the time they caused an accident, their employer could be responsible for covering your losses. For example, if a delivery driver was negligent and caused a pedestrian accident while delivering a package, you can make a claim against their employer.
Employers are vicariously liable for the on-duty acts of their staff. This legal doctrine means you don’t have to show the employer was negligent–only that the employee was careless while performing work tasks, because an employer is automatically liable if that’s the case.
The Government Could Compensate You
If defects in the roads are the cause of a pedestrian accident, you could make a claim against the government agency responsible for designing or maintaining the roads. The legal doctrine of sovereign immunity makes claims against the government more challenging, so you’ll need an experienced lawyer in these types of cases.
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