Do I Have to Pay Medical Bills from My Settlement?

When it comes to being injured in an accident it can be overwhelming to deal with medical bills while you recover. That being said, you may be waiting for a settlement check and this is what you want to pay your bills with. It is always important however that you make the best decisions possible regarding paying your medical bills. 

Do I Have to Pay Medical Bills from My Settlement?

• Should You Pay Your Medical Bills While Waiting for a Settlement

Put as simply as possible, yes, you should keep paying your medical bills even if you are waiting for a settlement check from an accident to come. The reason for this is that if your bills go-to collection, if your account gets very delinquent or behind, or if your account goes to the collection you can get into legal trouble of your own. With medical bills, you should be working to make sure that your account is current and that you are paying bills as you can.

Negotiating medical bills after settlement? If you cannot afford to pay your medical bills you should not let them go to collection. Rather, take the time to contact the facility that holds the bill to see if there is any sort of repayment plan that you can use, if there is any bill forgiveness that you can do, or if there is any way that you can reduce the overall amount that you owe. It is important that if you are seeking to have your bills lowered, that you do talk to financial aid as soon as possible before the bill has a chance to go to collections or for the account to get behind.

You should be paying your bills on time if you can, you should be working to pay back as much as you can, and you should be working to make sure that your accounts stay current and that those bills are being paid to keep you from potentially having legal action taken against you to recoup the cost of those bills. The worst thing you can do is ignore bills and let them go to collections. 

• Why Pay Your Bills While You Wait

The easiest explanation is that if your bills end up going to the collection, you are going to have a much harder time getting those bills paired down, you are not going to be able to get any reduction in overall cost, and you are likely going to be forced to pay more than you might have if you had paid the bill, to begin with, or if you have sought bill relief, to begin with. 

If you wait until you get the settlement those bill collectors are going to be able to come and seize money as soon as you get it. If you pay these bills as you go you are going to be able to recoup that money when your settlement does come so you should be paying these bills as you get them. If you do wait for a settlement before you pay bills the likelihood that those bills will go to the collection is high. 

Settlements are not something that happens overnight. You are not going to get a settlement a week after your accident. It can take months and years so you do need to pay your bills on time if possible. Since settlements do take a long time, you need to take the time to pay bills as you go and make sure you are staying current. You should be paying your bills so that when you do get your settlement. Since settlements do tend to take longer, keeping your account currency is going to protect your settlement in the future and is also going to protect your credit score. 

If you let bills go-to collection, they can incur fees. They can incur extra penalties, and they can cause your credit score to drop dramatically. You should be paying to keep your account current and to also make sure you are protecting your credit score so if you have to take out a loan in the future you are going to have a better credit score overall. Making sure you are paying your bills will also help you to stay on top of your money and make sure that when you do get your settlement you can use it to live and buy things you need rather than having to use all of it to pay off bills that have sat and grown while you waited for the settlement to get to you. 

Do lawyers get paid before medical bills? Taking the time to find a great lawyer like those at Feroleto Law can help make all the difference in how long it takes to get your settlement and in how much you ultimately get. A great lawyer can make all the difference in the overall success of your case, in how much your settlement is going to be and in how long it takes to get that payout and to get that settlement that you need to be able to pay off your debts and to live life comfortably again.