Hit today - not sure where to go from here...

[Eden]

When you are hit by a car while riding your bike, you do not have motor vehicle insurance to help you. You are at the mercy of the guy who hit you (if no insurance) or his insurance company.

Here in Washington this is not entirely true, because we have PIP (personal injury protection). I was hit by an uninsured motorist this summer. Because it was a motor vehicle accident *my* car insurance, even though I was not driving... is the first to kick in. My medical insurance won't pay any of it, unless/until the PIP benefits are exhausted.

This actually is a pain in the butt.... even though the collision was entirely the fault of the motorist (she turned left in front of me as I was going through an intersection on a green), I have had to go through all the insurance hassles. Of course when you go to the ER (turned out I was not severely injured, but my kneed immediately swelled up like a balloon and I couldn't bend it, so X-Rays were necessary) you say yes ma'am here's my insurance card, thank you very much... Not, hold on I need to file a PIP claim with my car insurance. So in the end I had to wait for my health insurance to deny the bills and then send them on to my auto insurance.

Here we are 4 months later and I'm still having to call the insurance company, call the hospital etc. to make sure all the bills are being paid. And my case was *not* a particularly complicated one. I had one ER visit with a set of X-rays to be taken care of. I can't imagine how much more difficult it would have been if I had been injured worse and had follow up care to claim too.

[indysteel]

Your PIP insurance sounds similar to uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. I have it, but you're not required to carry it in my homestate. I had to make a claim against it a few years ago. My insurer paid to have my car repaired but then was entitled to seek indemnification from the uninsured driver. My insurer also had some recourse under state law to see to it that the driver's license was revoked. I have no idea what ultimately happened in my case.

That, however, is different from the situation we have here. Owlgirl will either have to pay out of pocket and/or with her own medical insurance for any damage/injury that she sustained. Her medical insurer has no right to indemnification against the driver's insurer or the driver. So, if she wants to hold the driver liable, she will have to go after them herself, ideally with the help of an attorney. It is possible that the driver's insurer will voluntarily offer her something but it may be insufficient to really cover her losses and will likely be contingent on her signing a release.

[shootingstar]

Your PIP insurance sounds similar to uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. I have it, but you're not required to carry it in my homestate. I had to make a claim against it a few years ago. My insurer paid to have my car repaired but then was entitled to seek indemnification from the uninsured driver. My insurer also had some recourse under state law to see to it that the driver's license was revoked. I have no idea what ultimately happened in my case.

That, however, is different from the situation we have here. Owlgirl will either have to pay out of pocket and/or with her own medical insurance for any damage/injury that she sustained. Her medical insurer has no right to indemnification against the driver's insurer or the driver. So, if she wants to hold the driver liable, she will have to go after them herself, ideally with the help of an attorney. It is possible that the driver's insurer will voluntarily offer her something but it may be insufficient to really cover her losses and will likely be contingent on her signing a release.

Owlie: Aren't you a full-time student? Perhaps you should contact legal aid for California state..as an initial more cost-effective route.

[Fredwina]

Your PIP insurance sounds similar to uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. I have it, but you're not required to carry it in my homestate. I had to make a claim against it a few years ago. My insurer paid to have my car repaired but then was entitled to seek indemnification from the uninsured driver. My insurer also had some recourse under state law to see to it that the driver's license was revoked. I have no idea what ultimately happened in my case.

That, however, is different from the situation we have here. Owlgirl will either have to pay out of pocket and/or with her own medical insurance for any damage/injury that she sustained. Her medical insurer has no right to indemnification against the driver's insurer or the driver. So, if she wants to hold the driver liable, she will have to go after them herself, ideally with the help of an attorney. It is possible that the driver's insurer will voluntarily offer her something but it may be insufficient to really cover her losses and will likely be contingent on her signing a release.

Close
In CAlif, your health ins can legally come after a post-accident settlement. I had to surrender part of my settelment bucks, but I was ok with that.
In the USA, most personal injury attorneys will work on contigency. i.e. the will take a flat rate (most likey a third) of whatever the final settlement with the ins company will be. I found it was more than worth it in several ways to have Legal representation than to DIY

[owlgirl]

Ok, so I contacted the attorney Bob Mionske from bicyclelaw.com (who is incredibly kind and generous) and he offered me some advice. Based on my account, it would be hard to get a lawyer to take a case because they wouldn't gain much financially. He told me the driver is supposed to call his insurance company and report what happened, and that the driver might not actually do this. IF he calls, the insurance company will be calling me for a statement. If he does not call, then I should obtain the info from the police report that was made (yes, the cops came and gave me some documentation on where to get the report) and call them myself. I need to get an estimate for the damage to my bike, clothes, med. expenses etc. and present them with that. I am also supposed to find out if the driver was ticketed ( I don't think that he was). So that doesn't help me in any way.

I am not 100% sure the man had insurance, but I believe it's mandatory in CA. I know that I won't receive med. bills for a little while so i'm not sure how to handle that but I know from previous experience how much the ambulance will cost

I am a full time student, and i will contact CA legal aid for sure.

thanks again ladies.

[owlgirl]

Ugh, just tried to get that police report. It won't be ready for 7-10 days. grrrr....

again I am so glad that you all gave advice; no doubt I would have been doing all the wrong things had i not asked y'all. Thanks again.