One thing that no one tells you about a car accident is the astronomical costs that come with it. Not only do you find yourself trying to recover healthwise, but you find that you face lost wages, mental anguish, and other immense costs associated with recovery. Ideally, the compensatory damages you obtain for your car accident should help you get back on your feet, but it can take a lot of time to settle with the at-fault party.
Let’s look at how to recover financially after an accident and what you can do to make things easier.
Seek Professional Help
Lawyers understand the challenges that come with a car accident. You have bills piling up and insurance companies that drag their feet the whole way. They deal with this setting daily and understand the resources available to the victims of car accidents.
Having a good lawyer for car accidents will help you navigate the troubled legal waters you find yourself in. Fortunately, many will charge based on your compensation, so you only pay if they win your case. Usually, this means that they take a percentage of the settlement.
The good news is that a good lawyer can negotiate a fair settlement in your favor and ensure you receive it quickly. However, your attorney will take it to court if your case does not find a satisfactory solution in the negotiation stage.
Revisit Your Budget
After a car accident with big health bills and lost income, go back to your budget and restructure it where possible. If you haven’t already found yourself in this situation, you may want to set aside an emergency fund to handle your expenses for emergencies. For example, many say to set aside at least three months of rent payments and only tap into your savings when the situation becomes dire.
Take a look at your budget line by line to see where you can make cuts. During hard times, budgets will almost always require a cut somewhere.
You can find ways to reduce spending without losing all your comforts and still care for your health.
Ask for Help in the Right Places
Some people will feel desperate after a car accident, but you must think with logic, or you can make your situation worse. For example, beware of predatorial payday loans that charge as much as $15 to $20 for every $100 borrowed. The APR on this can range anywhere from 391 percent to 521 percent, which is not a smart financial decision, to say the least.
You may feel you have no choice, but you can deal with this without worsening the problem. For example, you could take the route of crowdfunding/social lending. Then, with the help of family and friends leading the charity campaign, you can rely on the compassion of others to help you pay your medical expenses and recover financially.
Peer-to-peer lending is another route where you will get paired up with a private lender to assist you with your bills. The low-interest rate makes it easier to pay back too.
Lawsuit loans are interesting to explore, but only with your attorney’s assistance. Lawsuit funding is a financial instrument available to plaintiffs who expect to win a settlement or a court award. This advance against your future claim settlement comes with risks – you might end up paying your entire settlement if not double – but it also has some benefits. Discuss the matter with your attorney and an accountant before you take this path, considering that some lawsuits can take years to solve.
Your insurance policies might also come in handy. All those years of paying premiums should pay off and help you recover. Talk to your insurers – car, health, etc. – and see how you can benefit from your policies. Some of these policies should cover at least some of your medical bills, property damage, etc. While they likely won’t cover everything, at least they will give you a starting point.
Check Out the Side Gigs
You have plenty of awesome side gigs where you can get paid and still focus on your health and recovery. Driving, strenuous activities, or stressful gigs won’t even be in the picture, but if you can perform some online tasks for extra cash. Of course, online surveys, marketing groups attendance, garage sales, or freelance work on dedicated platforms will not cover thousands of dollars in medical bills or lost wages, but they can help you make some ends meet.
Conclusion
Car accidents don’t have to ruin you financially. You can do many things to offset the costs of a car accident and rebuild your savings account. If you have thought about filing for bankruptcy, you may want to look at the other options available since you don’t always have to take that route. Many times, it becomes a matter of holding out long enough until you receive your compensation from the car accident. Your attorney will play a major role in keeping you afloat, so discuss your options with them and make the best choices for you.