If You're Injured on Someone Else's Property, Who Is Responsible for Your Medical Bills?

This is a complicated question to answer. The answer to who is responsible for medical expenses when injured on someone else’s property all depends on the circumstances applicable to each case. At Inland Empire Law, the top-rated personal injury law firm in Rancho Cucamonga, we can help you better understand these complex legal areas. Here are three of the most likely scenarios to answer the question of who is responsible for the medical bills associated with an injury on another person’s property.

1. Medical Payments Coverage

If you are injured on someone’s property, whether it is a business or a private residence, one option may be to seek payment from insurance coverage called medical pay coverage. If a property owner has property insurance with medical payments coverage, then the insurance provides a limited amount of coverage for the medical expenses incurred in treating the injuries suffered on the property. Oftentimes, medical payments coverage is limited to $1,000.00 to $5,000.00. The cause of the injury is not important, only that the injury occurred on the property. For example, if you tripped over a dog and it was your fault because you were not paying attention, the insurance is available solely to reimburse for medical expenses paid for the treatment of the injury.

2. General Liability Insurance

If you are injured on someone’s property and the cause of the injury was due to the negligence of the property owner or his or her employees, then you may claim compensation for your medical expenses as well as your pain and suffering. In this situation, you normally have more serious injuries that are not going to go away with some minor medical care. Additionally, if the property owner has general liability coverage on their property, then the insurance company may have to pay you for your medical expenses and your pain and suffering, if you can prove that the property owner was negligent in the maintenance or operation of the property. You also must prove that the property owner knew of the danger, or should have known of the existence of the dangerous condition and failed to correct the dangerous condition prior to the injury. This process generally requires help from an injury lawyer because there are so many challenges in getting a proper recovery.

3. Health Insurance

Now, if the injury was not caused by the negligence of the property owner, but the injury was the fault of the injured person, and there is no medical payment coverage, then generally the injured person, or their own medical insurance company, will have to pay for the medical expenses. There would be no other recovery from the property owner of his insurance company. This same result may come from the situation where the property has no insurance and no assets to pay for your injuries.

In each of the scenarios previously stated, your health insurance may still be available to help pay for your medical care while you are trying to get the property owner or his/her insurance company to pay for the injuries, medical expenses and loss of earnings. If you do recover funds from the property owner or his/her insurance company, you may be required to repay your insurance company for the amount of money it has paid out on your behalf. This requirement is built into most insurance contracts. However, a good personal injury lawyer can help reduce or eliminate the need to reimburse for those expenses paid.

If You’ve Been Injured, Enlist The Help of an Experienced Premises Liability Attorney

These are just three scenarios for the recovery of medical expenses for injuries suffered on someone else’s property. Each case is different and there may be other options depending on the facts and circumstances of the case at hand. Consulting a good injury lawyer can help you find the right and best source of recovery for those injuries. David H. Ricks, Esq. of the Inland Empire Law Group in Rancho Cucamonga, California, can evaluate your injury case and help you determine if you have a claim against a property owner or their insurance company.

Contact Inland Empire Law to answer any questions you may have and to schedule your free consultation with our experienced injury lawyers today!. You can also submit your information online in our case submission form on our website.