What to do following a serious car accident

We all hope it never happens to us, but car accidents do happen. In fact, there are over five million car accidents per year! The majority of those accidents aren’t very serious and don’t have any serious injuries, but a small percentage do cause significant injury or damage. If you or a loved one is ever involved in a serious accident, here’s some things you should consider following the accident.

1) Medical care and bills. The most important thing to do in the case of a serious car accident is to ensure that you’re able to heal from injuries as quickly and efficiently as possible. Many serious car accidents can lead to broken bones which can be treated in a couple days at the hospital before healing up at home. However, more serious internal injuries or injuries requiring surgery can require you to stay in the hospital for an extended period of time. Medical bills can mount quickly in these situations and it’s important to have health insurance and to know what you’re covered for to make sure that you not only get better, but that you have minimal medical bills when you’re discharged.

2) Work absences. Many serious car accidents can mean you’ll be out of work for a short, or sometimes, extended period of time. It’s important to have disability insurance to cover any loss of income that results from having to miss work due to your car accident. Various levels of coverage are available, and it’s available for short term or long term disability situations.

3) Vehicle repair or replacement. In many cases, a serious car accident will result in the vehicle being “totalled”, meaning that the cost of repairing the damage would cost more than the car itself is worth. In that case, depending on your coverage, your insurance company will provide some type of payout to help you purchase or put money towards a new vehicle. Keep in mind, depending on your insurance and the laws of the state you live in, your insurance may also have to pay for any damage done to the other car as well which may result in higher monthly premiums moving forward.

Being in a serious car accident is a scary, stressful experience, not to mention a painful one. However, taking care of these three items, medical bills, work absences and vehicle repair or replacement can help make sure you get healthy and back on the road as quickly and as painlessly as possible.