Medical Payments for a Hit and Run Injury

If you have been injured by a hit and run injury, you may wonder exactly how you will be able to recover your medical payments. Unfortunately, the party who is liable for your injuries may never be found . As such, you may be dependent on your own insurance company to reimburse you for the medical bills you face.

What is a Hit and Run Injury

A hit and run is defined as any situation in which a driver of a vehicle hit another person, vehicle or property and then left the scene of the accident. People hit and run for a number of reasons. The person driving may have been drunk at the time, or driving without a license or insurance. Since these are all legal violations that could subject him to serious criminal and civil sanctions, the driver may have been scared. Some drivers also hit and run just because they are frightened by the accident, even if they weren’t doing anything illegal at the time they caused it.

A hit and run driver faces potential criminal penalties of a year or more in jail depending on the state and the circumstances in which the accident occurred. As such, the police will try to help you find a hit and run driver who you can hold responsible for your hit and run injuries. Unfortunately, this is not always possible.

Recovering for a Hit and Run Injury

There are two possible ways in which you can recover medical payments for a hit and run injury:

• Through your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage
• If you have personal injury/medical injury protection

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage

This type of coverage pays the bills that someone else should rightfully be paying- the person who caused the accident. When you have uninsured motorist coverage, if someone else- such as a hit and run driver- causes you harm,  your insurance company essentially stands in for the other driver and is responsible for paying all the bills he would have had to pay, including the hit and run injury damages you suffered.

Personal Injury Protection

In some states, your medical bills and injury costs will be covered by something called personal injury protection. This is required in “no-fault” states and is optional in state’s where a tort system governs car accident law.

If you have personal injury protection, your car insurance company automatically pays your medical bills, regardless of who is at fault for the accident. This means that even though the medical payments for the hit and run injury were caused by the other driver, your insurance company automatically pays.

Getting Legal Help

If you have been injured in a hit and run and suffered an injury that lead to medical bills, you should contact an experienced hit and run attorney as soon as possible. He can help you to determine the appropriate claims to make with your insurance company and can help to protect you by showing you how to secure the damages to which you are entitled.