I was recently injured in a boating accident. I do not have any insurance!

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pterodactyl7488

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Oct 12, 2010
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What do I do? I broke my femur wakeboarding behind a boat 3 months ago. The person who owns the boat has insurance on the boat but it only covers $5,000 in expenses. They have a $300,000 liability. I do not know what that means. I didn't have insurance when it happened so how am I going to pay the $50,000 bill? I am currently going to school and paying for it on my own and I also cannot work due to being disabled. I applied for medical assistance and found out after 2 months of waiting that I was denied!! The state did not consider me disabled with a broken leg!!! Does anyone know what I can do to help cover the medical expenses? They already sent me to collections and they will trash my credit if I don't find a way to pay soon!
WHat do I do?!!!
PS: This happened to me in Maryland but I live in Oregon now.
No, I should not have been doing an extreme sport in the first place. I guess I am screwed on this. I calculated the costs and if I was paying $250/month, it would take me 16.6 years to pay off. Paying for this AND school on my own pretty much means I am 100% screwed on this. I am 22 and would only be able to wait tables until I finish college. How can I afford this medical bill, car, living, school, and eating expenses???

BTW: I canceled my med insurance 3 weeks before I broke my leg due to a nonpayment. I just didn't have the money at the time!!! :( *cries*)

Maybe I should leave the country. :p
 
getting medical assistance AFTER you broke your leg, wouldn't help pay those medical bills - you would have had to have the insurance BEFORE you had the accident. and a broekn leg is temporary, that's why you were not granted "disabled" status

your "credit" score is the last thing you should be worrying about

with no health insurance, you should have been a lot more careful with the activities you participate in - even a trip to the emergency room to get stitches for a cut foot can cost over $2000 - just happened to me - I had insurance, so it ONLY cost me $125
 
If you decide you're going to sue the owner of the boat, their policy will defend them in court, and pay up to $300,000 towards the judgement - if ANYTHING.

The problem is, you'll have to prove that they were NEGLIGENT, and caused your injury. Like, they drove the boat into a dock, and you broke your leg when you hit the dock. If you just fell, and broke your leg when you hit, they aren't negligent - it just happened - and you'll just have to figure out how to pay for school.

I'd suggest if you're too disabled to work, you're too disabled to go to school. They're right - a person with a broken leg, is INJURED, not disabled. HUGE difference. Your leg will heal. Actually, it takes a HECK of a lot longer than two months to get that bill sent to collections, and most likely by now, you're completely healed, ANYWAY.



Then you can get a second job, to help pay for your medical bills. Once it goes to collections, it's too late to get the hospital to reprice it.

Lastly, regarding what to do . .. what you should NOT do, is partake in hazardous sports when you have no health insurance.
 
Your only course of action is to sue the insured (the person whose boat was towing you) or the insurance company. Both are truly the same option. There’s a very strong chance the insurance company will pay for your bills. However, there is also a strong chance that the boat owner will be dropped after the suit is over. If this is a friend I recommend being the bigger man and accepting the fact that no one made you go wake boarding and you knew the risks of doing so. It is claims like this where the person looking for money made a solid choice to do something and the worst happened. Now you want someone else to pay for your poor judgment.

I say man up and deal with it.

Or sue like everyone else and be one more contributing factor to a constantly increasing cost of living.
 
1. Leaving the country will not help. You will still owe the money.
2. $50,000 seems high for a broken leg. You might be able to negotiate a lower price.
3. If you cannot afford to pay the money and stay in school and make your car payment, then you might have to either (a) drop out of school so that you can work full time, or (b) sell the car. Decisions have consequences. You decided to pay for a car instead of paying for insurance. You decided to go wakeboarding. This is the result.
4. If the driver/owner of the boat was negligent in some way, then you might, possibly, although not very likely, be able to win if you sue that person. If you do sue and win, then the liability insurance will pay the expenses and maybe something for pain and suffering. If you were injured because of your own lack of wakeboarding skills (which seems more likely) and the owner/driver of the boat is not found liable (responsible) for your injuries, then the liability insurance will not pay.
 
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