What would you say was the worst part of being in a car accident? Yes, it stinks when your car gets totaled.
Nobody really wants to go through physical therapy.
The doctor's bills are like something out of a Stephen King movie! That's not the worst part though.
The worst part is the days, weeks and months you have to spend living a whole separate life from your family and friends while you recover.
At least your auto insurance is there to make sure you don't go broke in the meantime! Oh sure, your finances aren't usually the first thing you think of after an accident.
Not beyond how much it's going to cost you in deductibles to get your car fixed, anyway! It doesn't take long to realize that spending time away from work usually means you're not getting paid, however.
Either that, or you're going to have to eat up so much of your sick time you're going to have to drag yourself into work with the flu this winter! Nobody can afford to live without getting paid, and there's no faster way to kill your paycheck than to be in an accident so you can't get to work.
Before you haul yourself out of your recovery room and clock in, stop.
Breathe.
Your auto insurance company saw this coming, and they're waiting to help you out.
If you live in a no fault state like Florida, Pennsylvania, North Dakota, Michigan, Hawaii, Kentucky or Utah (to name a few) you're already covered.
No fault insurance coverage comes with personal injury protection which, in turn, has a clause to reimburse you for lost wages.
All you have to do is make sure you've got a doctor's report detailing why you were out of work, how long you're going to be out of work, how your injuries affect your ability to do your job and what kind of care you're currently receiving and auto insurance companies will be Johnny on the spot to reimburse you for your time off.
Now, personal injury protection usually only covers 60-80% of your gross wages, unless you were really savvy when you went shopping for an auto insurance policy.
If you were responsible for the accident there's not a whole lot you can do about it, but if you weren't responsible for the accident you're entitled to the rest of your wages from the other driver's auto insurance company.
It's covered as part of their liability coverage, and it's the least they can do.
If you don't live in a no-fault state you're going to have a harder time tearing your lost wages out of the auto insurance industry's cold, resisting grip, but it can be done! (Just for the record, that's being a little overdramatic - some companies are very good about paying out lost wages as part of their auto insurance claims.
) The biggest thing you need to know about convincing the other driver's auto insurance company to pay your lost wages is that you need to prove the accident is the reason you were off work.
If the doctor gave the okay for you to go back to work and you're still out, that's time you're not getting paid for-even if you're still in too much pain to do your job.
Just make sure your I's are dotted and your T's are crossed and you should find that you have no trouble getting the lost wages you deserve.