Will the other driver (the one who rear-ended me) be responsible for my medical bills?

by Jenn
(Arizona)

I was rear-ended by a teenager who hit me while I was at a complete stop for light. I called police and he refused to file a report or issue a ticket to the driver.

He said it is their practice to not issue report for anything that looks like it is less than $1000 damage. My airbag did not deploy, however, I have a bruised kidney (which complicates my kidney disease - polycystic kidney disease) and my breast implant ruptured.

The car sustained minor damage to the bumper, but the breast surgery will be close to $7,000. Will the driver be responsible?

I did not have the paramedics come to scene, however, after spending a day in bed sore, I went to my doctor and then was sent to ER with all medical findings documented.

Answer:


Hello Jenn,

You are in a difficult situation. Most breast implant ruptures, in car accidents, occurred because of a significant impact against the airbag. If there is no air bag deployment, and the impact shows damages under $1,000.00, it is unlikely that the insurance company will be very kin in paying for the damages.

Other questions will come to mind, like: how old were the implants? Usually, they will asks this to determine if you are "due" to have surgery redone and simply want a way to pay for them.

The issue with the kidney is the same. You must show that this was directly related to the accident. Please see the requirements of causation here.

If you can show both a factual and legal connection from the impact to the injuries, then you could get compensation.

You should talk to a lawyer. This claim has a few more complex issue for you to handle alone.