A driver hit me while I was biking, how can I get his car insurance to pay for my medical bills?
I know for a fact that this question has been asked before, but I am having a hard time finding specific answers and piecing it together.
I live in Illinois. Two days ago I was riding home from the grocery store, I was riding my bike on the crosswalk (I had just left the store so I was transitioning from the sidewalk to the road, it makes sense if you see the layout) and I had the walk sign. The car was sitting right next to the crosswalk waiting for people to cross. He must have slammed on the gas because he knocked me pretty good after only moving about 3 feet. I rode the ambulance to the hospital and got about 10 stitches in my leg, a tetnis shot, tylenol, and x rays of most of my body.
The police report lists him as unit 1 which my roommate said means that he is at fault. I have all the drivers info thanks to the police report. My bike repair cost about $75 (the driver said he would pay for that so I might give him a ring and see what he says) I have insurance through my employer but im young (24M) and normally very healthy so I opted for the cheapest monthly plan with a very high deductible. Im not missing work. Im not needing rehab. Its quite frankly a minor injury it was just a really deep gash so I needed stitches.
ok now to the important part: how (if its even possible) do I get his car insurance to cover my medical bills? Like who do I call? What do I say? how much time do I have to get everything done?
I know in about a month I will be getting a huge bill from the hospital, and they are going to try to charge my insurance first and send me the remaining bill. How do I tell the hospital to fight it out with the drivers insurance? Wont it take a long time for them to fight it out and it will eventually go to collections? Should I pay it before it goes to collections? Would it be cheaper to hire a lawyer? What kind of lawyer? How do I know when I need a lawyer?
Thank you for your time. If at all possible please be extremely specific, talk to me like I am an alien from a different planet and you have to explain everything. I dont have any adults in my life that are able to help me with this, im trying to figure it out on my own and failing currently. Thank you!!
EDIT: im 24, I make about 70k gross, I have an hmo plan (the hospital is in-network) with a 6500 deductible, I live in chicago, my plan covers very little before the deductible is met, I have about 5k sitting around but I was going to use it to start paying off my student loans.
submitted by /u/EggWhite-Delight
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