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Who Pays The Medical Bills for The Passenger in a Car Crash?

June 20, 2013  |  Adriel B. Villarreal

Minnesota is a no-fault insurance state. That does not mean that as a passenger in a car crash you are not entitled to make an insurance claim for the injuries sustained in an accident. It merely impacts whose insurance will be responsible for paying the bill.
In this case, as the passenger, your own automobile insurance should be paying for your medical bills and lost wages. This would happen regardless of who is ultimately responsible for the accident, or who owns the car in question.

Car Accidents

What if you don’t have insurance because you don’t have a car? If that happens there’s an “order of priority” that the law follows to find out which insurance company needs to foot the bill. It goes like this:

  • If you don’t have car insurance, the claim would go to the auto insurance policy of a family member that you live with.
  • If you don’t live with anyone who has car insurance, the car insurance of the vehicle you were in at the time of the accident would be responsible for the bill next.
  • If the person who owned the vehicle wasn’t carrying insurance on the vehicle the claim would typically go to Minnesota’s Assigned Claims Plan.

You may also be entitled to additional compensation from other insurance companies involved with the accident, depending upon the circumstances of said car accident. For example, the other driver’s insurer might also be required to cover some of your expenses. You typically can’t access those claims without good help from a personal injury lawyer, however.
In truth, you shouldn’t have to navigate these issues alone anyway. Insurance issues can grow complicated very quickly. You should be worried about putting your life back together after the accident, not about who needs to fill out what paperwork. A personal injury attorney can handle those details for you so that you can concentrate on getting better.
If you were a passenger in an accident and you live in the Minneapolis area, call Barna, Guzy & Steffen for a free consultation. Our 60 years of combined experience means that we have the knowledge that it takes to navigate the thorny issues surrounding insurance responsibility while helping you get the best possible outcome for your case. Call us today.