Accidents always have an impact on your financial bottom line, but a motorcycle accident can have a more significant effect. When you’ve been in a crash, it’s important to realize the full impact it can have and what to do to mitigate the damage.
You’ll be out of work.
Very few people walk away from motorcycle accidents without severe injuries. Your injuries are likely to keep you out of work for several weeks, if not several months. Depending on your job’s disability and medical leave policy, you may even find that you end up losing your job, leaving you to rely entirely on unemployment.
In some cases, you’ll be able to collect short-term disability benefits from a policy with your employer or that you’ve purchased on your own.
You’ll have hospital and doctor bills.
As if the decreased or complete loss of income wasn’t already painful enough, you’ll have to pay hospital and doctor bills. Health insurance may help, but you might still have deductibles to meet and copays to pay.
To try to ease the financial burden, you should talk to an attorney as soon as you can after your accident. An attorney can help you deal with the other driver’s insurance company or file a lawsuit. This lawsuit can help you potentially get your financial recovery started more quickly.
You have to pay for the repairs to your motorcycle.
Even though the other driver may be at fault and ultimately have to pay for the damage to your bike, you may not be able to wait for that to happen. If it’s your only transportation, you may need it repaired sooner rather than later. Needing repairs means paying for it out-of-pocket and hoping that the other driver’s insurance reimburses you.
You may need to pay for a brand-new bike
Depending on the severity of the accident, your bike may not be repairable. You may have to buy a new (or new-to-you) bike. Notably, if the motorcycle was your sole source of transportation, you might have to do this before the insurance pays out, which means more money out of your pocket.
Motorcycle accidents take a toll, physically, emotionally, and financially. While there’s not much you can do to ease the physical or emotional impacts; you can take steps toward mitigating the financial struggle. Talking to an attorney early can help a lot.