You can get badly injured from slipping and falling down. You could be in the hospital for broken bones, bruises, nerve damage, and other problems after a slip-and-fall injury. The cost of treatment for these injuries can get quite high, so many people are concerned as to how their medical bills will get paid after a serious slip and fall in Maryland.
Initially, either your insurance or you personally will be paying for your medical bills after a slip and fall in Maryland. In many cases, either you or your insurance company will file a lawsuit against the party responsible for your injuries to try and get compensation for medical expenses as damages.
For a free, no-obligation case analysis, call Rice, Murtha & Psoras’s Maryland slip and fall injury lawyers at (410) 694-7291.
Payment of Medical Bills Right After a Slip and Fall Accident in Maryland
The most pressing concern for many people after they get injured is how their bills are going to be handled in the short term. A lot of people worry that they need to pay off expensive medical bills right away so that they do not go into debt or get sued. Indeed, if medical bills are left unpaid for some time, the hospital can put them into something called “collections,” where they have a debt collection service to try and get you to pay medical debts that were ultimately not your fault.
With the help of our Baltimore slip and fall injury lawyers, we can negotiate with hospitals and other parties seeking payment from you so that you can focus on your recovery and on pursuing your lawsuit, with the ultimate goal of making sure that the responsible party pays for your medical bills, not you.
Methods that Will Pay for Medical Bills in a Maryland Slip and Fall Accident Lawsuit
Payment for medical bills after a slip and fall can come from the defendant, but you can get payment in a number of different ways. Depending on how your case plays out, you may get financial compensation in one, some, or all of these ways. The initial ways that medical bills are dealt with after a slip and fall injury are usually only temporary stopgaps. The reality is that the cost of treating serious injuries often leads to lawsuits where the court makes a particular party liable and has them pay for the plaintiff’s medical expenses and pain and suffering.
Damages
The initial thought someone may have about getting medical bills paid is through damages from a lawsuit. In order to get compensation in this way, you have to prove in court that a party was responsible for your injuries, and the court can make them pay you damages based on your injuries.
Settlement
As an alternative to a trial, a party may wish to settle a lawsuit before that point. They can make an offer which may be enough to cover your medical expenses. If you are presented with this option, you should talk with our lawyers about its pros and cons.
The Responsible Party’s Insurance
Maryland uses an “at-fault” system for insurance, meaning that the insurance provider of the party that is responsible for your injuries will be responsible for covering your medical expenses. However, insurance companies are not likely to admit that their client is responsible for a slip and fall injury. For that reason, you may have to sue in order to establish liability.
A lawsuit against an insurance company can happen in two primary ways. First, you can sue the party you believe is responsible for your injuries in order to have a court hold them liable, and then their insurance will have to cover your damages. Alternatively, if you do not want to pursue a lawsuit, your own insurance company may try to sue the responsible party’s insurance company to recoup the money they used to cover your injuries. Even if you personally want to avoid a lawsuit, you may be involved in this one as an important party, and our Ellicott City slip and fall injury lawyers can help you through that process just as if we were representing you in a lawsuit you were filing yourself.
The Responsible Party
If a defendant is found liable in a lawsuit, there is a chance that their insurance will not be able to fully cover your expenses and other damages. In those cases, the defendant may be paying out of their own pocket to some extent. However, depending on the defendant’s financial resources, they may not be able to pay all of your expenses right away. The result may be that the court sets up a system where the defendant pays you over time, such as wage garnishment or another form of indebtedness.
Will Medical Expenses Cut into Legal Fees in Maryland Slip and Fall Accident Lawsuits?
In addition to medical expenses, many plaintiffs may be concerned that they will need to pay for both medical expenses and legal fees while waiting for a slip and fall accident lawsuit to resolve itself. They may feel that they do not have the financial resources to pursue a claim, even if the chances that they are successful in court are high.
Fortunately, it is possible, and in fact very common, to delay the payment of legal fees until after a lawsuit is over. This is through a fee arrangement called “contingency.” In a contingency fee structure, our lawyers are not paid unless you are successful in your case, and that payment comes out of what you are awarded as damages.
Talk to Our Maryland Slip and Fall Accident Lawyers About Your Case
Rice, Murtha & Psoras’s Parkville slip and fall injury lawyers are ready to help you with your case when you call us at (410) 694-7291.