Who will pay for my medical expenses?

Generally, if you make a claim against another driver, and they have insurance, their insurance company will pay and reimburse you for the medical expenses that you incur. However, in most cases, that payment doesn’t occur until the entire claim is settled.

If you are looking for immediate payment of medical expenses, the only real options that you have, are coverages on your own automobile policy called Personal Injury Protection or Med Pay (medical payments). They’re similar but different. Personal Injury Protection coverage and Med Pay coverage will pay for your medical expenses that you incur, as they go along.

The difference is Personal Injury Protection does not have a subrogation interest. If you make a claim against a third party and you recover those medical expenses you don’t have to pay your insurance company back for the amount they already paid you for those expenses.

On the other hand, with Med Pay coverage, you have to reimburse your insurance company when your claim against the third party is resolved. So if you get hit by Joe Smith, make a claim against Joe Smith, and in the interim your med pay coverage has paid or reimbursed you for your medical expenses, once you settle your claim with Joe Smith, you’ll have to reimburse your insurance company. You don’t have to do that with Personal Injury Protection.

And if the other side doesn’t have insurance and if you don’t have PIP or Med Pay, then you may have a coverage called Uninsured/Under-insured Motorist. That cover will also reimburse you for medical expenses. But again, like making a claim against the other party, that usually doesn’t come until the entire claim is settled, which can be months or years after the fact.

As always remember, these videos and information are based on Texas law. If you need a lawyer for a car wreck in Texas, feel free to call us or submit a question in the boxes on this site. If you need a lawyer in some other state, we can help you find someone to help.