Today my husband got hit by car

[MissJean]

I don't really know why I'm posting this on a guinea pig forum, but whatever.

I almost got hit as well, but leaped forward in time. We were crossing the road after buying spinach at the local Safeway. I'm probably sure everyone who gets hit by a car blames the driver, but I just don't get how the person didn't see us. We looked down each road, made our presence known, and then started walking when we didn't see any of the cars move. It was at a 4-way stop. It was dark but I was wearing a neon orange bag. The guy sped up very quickly as he turned. Thankfully he had enough brains to stop and give his information. Our new health insurance has not kicked in yet.

My husband has to stay in the hospital as he shattered his ankle and needs surgery. He's going to have metal inside holding it together. I heard his ankle breaking and now I feel very sick thinking about it. Yet, I can't get it out of my head.

I'm angry, sad, and my self-worth is very low. I'm 22 years old and absolutely clueless as to how to deal with insurance and other such "grown-up" things. My husband is always there for me and I have no idea how to make myself useful. Seeing him in pain is just awful.

Thanks for letting me rant, O kind and gentle guinea pig people!

 

[peanut.lover]

I'm so sorry about your husband. I saw a homeless guy being hit by a car a couple of months ago, and was one of the first arrivals on the scene. I kind of know what you are feeling, your husband is a very lucky man to escape this incident with only a broken ankle. What I do know is that knee and ankle surgeries are not life threatening, but it does need a lot of physiotherapy and time to heal. You got to stay strong !!!

 

[Lucille]

Missjean, I am so sorry this happened and hope your husband will recover without permanent damage. I am a retired nurse (and a non practicing attorney) and I would not mind giving you some basics about insurance as well as advice as to where you can get more information if you email me.

 

[lissie]

I'm sorry sorry about your husband. I hope he recovers soon.

 

[Emmebean]

MissJean,
I am so sorry! 1 year ago my husband shattered his tibia and fibula. I know what you're going through. 1 st make sure he has the best ortho surgeon, which doesn't have to be whoever is on call right then. If you need to talk or have questions about the next few months, please let me know.

 

[pinky]

I hope you filed a police report and gave the driver's information. It might be a good idea to talk to a lawyer to make sure all your husband's bills are paid. You shouldn't have to pay for his injuries. It should be covered under the driver's insurance. If he's not insured, you'd need a lawyer to help you file for damages. Sending positive thoughts your way.

 

[doglaurasmudge]

So, so, so sorry to hear this. Hope he get's well soon!

 

[mufasa]

@MissJean so sorry to see this! Sending good thoughts your way that your husband's surgery will go well and that he'll have a smooth, speedy recovery. I second those that say you should contact a lawyer. I'm not normally one for lawsuits, but in a case like this you never know the possible future impairment, and the bills will be very expensive so make sure it will be covered. It's bad enough you and your husband have to go through this without getting saddled with bills and pursed by collection agencies as well. Here's hoping your New Year will be much, much, much better.

 

[MissJean]

Thank you all for your kind words. He shattered his tibia and needs screws or something. Unfortunately it doesn't look like he'll be able to get surgery until Monday. He's in a temporary splint at the hospital. It almost looks like a cast. So far they don't seem to be wanting him to go home.

Thankfully the guy who hit us was insured and I did file a police report. There were also several witnesses who got questioned. A lot of the witness ran over to help. That was pretty cool. I was pretty useless, crying over my husband. The people helped me get the guy's insurance info and guide traffic around us.

 

[Inle_Rabbit]

Oh wow! How scary. I'm glad it wasn't worse, truly I am. I hope for your hubby's speedy recovery.

I agree with others who have said to get a lawyer right away. The lawyer is usually free and will take his fee from the settlement. Insurance companies have a way of dragging their feet and trying to get out of payments they should be making. I was in a car accident when I was pregnant with my first son, we almost lost the baby even though I was hardly injured. Had I not been pregnant I probably would have walked away from the accident with nothing more than a sore back. We had to fight the insurance company for 2 years to get the bills paid and almost ended up having to go to court. They paid the bills only a month before the statute of limitations wore out. Another tip, save your bloody clothing, unwashed, I saved mine and it was the kicker in how much money we revived. I know gross right? But you are dealing with a car insurance company that acts like a mechanical entity that will do everything based on a mathematical risk ratio and not what is right or required. Please know I am sending positive thoughts in your direction while you and your husband heal.

 

[NorthernLight]

I am so sorry to read about your husband's accident, and your grief about it. I hope he recovers quickly, and that you both feel happy again soon.

 

[CavySpirit]

So sorry about this accident. My positive thoughts are with you. Healing and support vibes to you.

 

[Aleks]

Oh my, I'm soo sorry I hope he heals quickly.

 

[Chritazy]

I'm so sorry! What an awful thing to have happened! I hope your husband has a speedy recovery.

 

[elg1692]

So sorry to hear that this has happened to you and your husband. I hope he has a speedy and uncomplicated recovery. Positive vibes from me and nose nudges and whisker tickles from my piggies to you both

 

[CanadianComforts]

Many hugs to you and healing vibes to your husband.

 

[HurricaneKatt]

I am sorry to hear that your husband got hurt. I work at a health clinic, so perhaps I can help with the insurance a little. Private health clinics obviously run a little differently than hospitals, but the basic framework should be pretty similar. It sounds like you already filed a police report and got the insurance info, which is good. The entire medical bill should be covered by the driver's insurance, including the surgery, and PT he needs for recovery, etc. If they Do give you any trouble then yes, get a lawyer to help you out. When you arrived at the hospital you should have filled out an accident report at some point. Between that and the insurance claim, you should have a case number. If you don't know what it is, I would call the insurance and/or the hospital's billing department and find out. You will want to hold onto that, and get copies of ALL of the paperwork. Put it all together, including the case #, insurance info, driver's contact info, etc in a secure place where you won't lose anything (such as a folder in a file cabinet). Also, when you call the insurance to get the claim number, ask for the representative's name and direct line. Oftentimes (though not always) it seems that there will be one main person who oversees a case. They will be more knowledgeable of your specific case as a result and if anything comes up, you have any questions, or they need any info etc, it will be helpful to deal with One person as much as possible.

You have already submitted the insurance information I assume, so from here on out the hospital should have everything taken care of. Don't hesitate to talk to the insurance company and/or the hospital's billing department to check in occasionally, make sure they don't need any further info from you, and see what the status of the claim is. Really though, once they have all of the info the hospital should be able to submit the bills directly to the insurance company who will then pay the hospital. You really shouldn't have to worry about the bill(s) at all. That being said, if ANYTHING is denied/rejected by the insurance, then you will have a fight on your hands. They will often do as much as they can to pay as little as they can. Seeing as how your husband's injury is pretty serious (an obvious break vs say whiplash) they really shouldn't have much in the way of grounds for refusal of any charges. That doesn't mean they won't try though. Make sure that the hospital has all of your contact info, as well as multiple ways to contact you (current mailing addy, home, cell, and work phone #'s, etc). If insurance does refuse anything the uncovered portion of the bill will fall to you. You want to know immediately if anything is uncovered, and at that point a lawyer will probably come in handy. Be aware that insurance companies are slow and it can take them a month or more to process a claim. So you may not hear anything for a while in other words.

Hopefully everything goes smoothly and you don't even need to be involved really. Insurance SHOULD cover the full bill, so once the billing dept has the info, you really shouldn't have to do much of anything. Fingers crossed everything goes through without a hitch. As for being there for your husband, it sucks not being able to help much. However, just BEING there for him will mean so much. Bringing him entertainment (does he like books? music? video games? movies?), good food (hospital food isn't always the best haha), etc will all be appreciated.

Keep your chin up!

 

[T_Licious]

I am so sorry to hear that! I hope he has a smooth recovery and the insurance issues are hassle free. I had an accident and an insurance nightmare when I was about your age (that makes me sound much older than I am lol, I'm 30 now) but the first time you deal with such complicated things is a nightmare. Thank goodness the driver had insurance, that should really help things.

 

[MissJean]

Hmm, we actually have not submitted the guy's insurance info anywhere yet. We were going to go through a lawyer first but my husband seems to think we'd have to wait until we knew the cost of everything first. I'm not even sure how to look for a lawyer. My husband thinks the good ones are probably on holiday right now.

The hospitals financial person did come down to see us, but she just asked if we had our own insurance. Ours hasn't kicked in just yet. We told her we got the guy's insurance info, but she didn't ask for it. So we need to be speaking to someone at the hospital's financial depart to link them to the guy's insurance? I don't understand why she didn't ask for that information. If I call the hospital who do I ask for? I just ask for them to transfer me to billing? The costs at this point are unknown. I'm not even sure how long he needs to stay there after his surgery.

I would love not having to go through a lawyer, but people have been telling me to get a lawyer *first*. I'm so confused about all of this. After surgery tomorrow he still has to stay at the hospital. I hope that man's insurance does not fight us, as I image the bill will be very high.

 

[Lucille]

people have been telling me to get a lawyer *first*.

As an attorney I think that is wise advice. There may be medical tests to be done, specialists to be seen. One does not wait until all the expenses are in to select an attorney, because the care received may be (sad but true) influenced for the better if you have good advice.