It doesn’t take much for an ordinary, unremarkable day in Mount Prospect to become a day you will never forget. All it takes is a texting driver who plows into the back of your car, a trucker on the road too long who runs through a red light, or someone who got behind the wheel after too many drinks t-boning your vehicle. All it takes is a serious auto accident to change your life for years to come.
As a Mount Prospect car accident attorney, I regularly meet with people who are struggling in the aftermath of a car wreck caused by another driver’s negligence or recklessness. They share their stories about how their injuries have impacted their lives and those of their loved ones. They express their worries about how they will cover their bills while their injuries keep them from earning a paycheck. And they ask me whether I can help them hold the other driver responsible and get them compensation for their losses.
If those concerns ring familiar to you after a recent car accident, I stand ready to be your ally and advocate, just as I have for so many others in Mount Prospect and throughout Chicagoland. With decades of experience and a practice focused exclusively on personal injury law, I work tirelessly to get my clients the compensation they need and deserve after a car wreck upends their life, including injuries sustained in:
- Car accidents
- Truck accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Uninsured and underinsured motorist crashes
- Hit-and-run collisions
- Drunk driving accidents
- Rideshare/Uber/Lyft accidents
Car Accident Spotlight: What Is A “Contingency Fee” Arrangement With A Mount Prospect Auto Accident Attorney?
You’ve probably seen ads on TV or billboards on the side of the expressway where a personal injury lawyer exclaims something like: “You pay nothing unless I recover compensation for you” or “If we don’t get you money for your injuries, our services are free.”
What those lawyers are referring to is a contingency fee arrangement. Almost all car accident and personal injury attorneys provide their representation on this basis. As the name implies, your payment of attorney’s fees to your lawyer is “contingent” on them recovering compensation for your injury. If they don’t get you money, you owe them nothing.
Under a contingency fee arrangement, your attorney bears the risks and costs involved in your car accident case, including the risk of losing. They may work potentially hundreds of hours and pay substantial sums for expenses with no guarantee of ever seeing a dollar for all that work or receiving reimbursement for what they pay out in hard costs.
If, however, your car accident lawyer does obtain damages for you, either through settlement or after a trial, they will take an agreed-upon percentage out of that amount as their fee and pay any incurred expenses out of that sum.
The arrangement needs to be reflected in a written contingent fee agreement signed by you and your car accident lawyer at the start of their representation of you in your case.
Without contingent fee arrangements, most car accident injury victims would have no way to seek justice and recover damages for their injuries. Already struggling with large medical bills and missing paychecks, few injury victims have money to pay for a lawyer. By not having to go out of pocket to pay for a lawyer, those injured by the negligence of others have the means to get the compensation they need.
Co-pays After An Auto Accident in Mount Prospect
If you were injured in an auto accident or any other type of personal injury accident, you probably sought medical care shortly thereafter. Perhaps you went to the emergency room or a local urgent care. After your medical care is completed, you will begin to receive medical bills for the treatment.
The auto insurance company for the driver who hit you will NOT pay your medical bills until your case is resolved. However, your health insurance may pay for the bills. You may have to pay your health insurance back out of the proceeds of your settlement.
If you do use your health insurance to pay your medical bills, you will likely have co-pays, co-insurance and/or a deductible that must be paid before your health insurance kicks in. That does not change after an auto accident.
If you receive a bill for a co-pay you must pay it. Otherwise, the bill could go to collections. If you are attempting to obtain follow-up care, for example, with your primary care physician, or more significantly, if you are attending physical therapy, you will have to pay your co-pay on every visit.
That can be costly. I’ve had more than one client who did not pursue additional medical care because she/he could not afford the co-pays.
The same applies for your deductible. Let’s say hypothetically that you have a deductible of $2,500. If you go to the emergency room and your bill is $5,000, you will get a bill for $2,500. If you don’t pay that bill, it may very well go to collections.
People often ask if they will recover for the co-pays after an auto accident. Yes, you will, but not how you think. After you are done treating, your Mount Prospect attorney will demand that the defendant driver’s auto insurance company reimburse you for ALL of your medical bills – not just your deductible.
Your co-pay is just a fixed part/portion of an entire medical bill. As such, you will not receive reimbursement specifically for the co-pay. Rather, you will seek reimbursement for your entire bill.
Auto accident settlement example
This is frustrating to some people because the settlement offer the auto insurance company makes you is intended to compensate you for your pain and suffering as well as pay for your medical bills.
For example, if you have medical bills of $3,000 and the insurance company offers you $10,000 to settle your case, the $3k in medical bills are included in the $10,000 offer. Often accident victims think that the $10,000 all goes to them. It does not. By the way, if you have attorneys’ fees, those come out of the settlement amount as well.
So, Yes, you will recover for your co-pays
Regardless how you get compensated, you will receive reimbursement for your medical bill co-pays and your deductible. It may just not be when you want it or you need it.
There are other options to pay your medical bills. Those can be found in my blog article on this topic. But in some they include obtaining medical service on lien or using your medpay insurance in your auto insurance policy.
Call Chicago Legal Group Today To Arrange For Your Free Initial Consultation
If you were in a Mount Prospect car accident, answers, assistance, and an attorney dedicated to your well-being are only a few miles away. Located in Glenview, Chicago Legal Group focuses exclusively on the representation of personal injury victims, using our experience, tenacity, and advocacy skills to get our clients the compensation and resources they need to move forward with their lives. Your initial consultation is free, and you pay nothing in attorney’s fees until we obtain compensation for you.
Please contact Chicago Legal Group today to arrange for your free consultation