How can I get my lost wages and medical bills covered? Friend has Allstate home insurance.?

Question

I was helping my friend at her house when her garage door came off track (wheel popped off) and came crashing down on me. I was opening door for her. It broke my arm. I cannot work for 6 weeks and the medical bills are piling up. I cannot survive not working for 6 weeks! How do I handle this matter? Will I hve to sue myfriend or will Allstate cover wages?

Answer 1

To get any "serious money" you have to sue. But if you just want to cover your bills and stuff...... Tell your friend to call and file a claim under Medical Payments. The policy should have at least $1000 in coverage and some policies go up to $10,000. This can be done with just a simple phone call. So call the agent or company to see what the limit is on her policy. Good luck!

Answer 2

Her home owners will cover your cost but she will need to pay her deductible.

Answer 3

You have to sue her in order for her to file a claim.    You will need to prove she was negligent in some way.   However, you should not make it past the initial filing, Allstate would settle this out of court because it just is not worth the expense.

Answer 4

You cannot file a claim against another's insurance.  You may have to sue.  You may also be eligible, however, for state temporary disability while you cannot work.

Answer 5

These types of things are pretty common under a HO plan.  

Have her open a claim direct with the insurance. DON'T call a lawyer, yet, unless you want to kiss goodbye to 40% of your settlement.  

Be cooperative with the investigator, provide all documentation and be patient. Be firm that you deserve payment, however. Get a lawyer if it looks like a real rip-off.  

In any case, most people are very disappointed with settlement amounts. The limits on the HO policy may be the problem here, however, I'm betting the the original garage installer is the one actually at fault, so let the insurer go after them, or go after them yourself, since they likely have a much bigger policy.

Answer 6

Your friends policy has 2 coverages that may apply.

One is called medical payments coverage. This is usually about 5000 but can be more. This coverage pays for injury to non-residents of your house hold that are injured on your property regardless of fault or negligence. It does not pay lost wages but it does pay medical bills. Most likely you can collect under this one.

The other coverage is liability. In order to collect under this coverage- your friend has to be legally liable for your injuries. She has to have been negligent and that negligence is the direct cause of your injury. Based on the very limited information you provided - the liability coverage may not apply in this situation.

If you chose to get a lawyer and sue-- yes, you would sue your friend - not the insurance company. So, you can probably kiss that friendship good bye if you sue her. Also-- just because you sue-- does not mean you will win and get a big pay day-- sometime people file law suits and lose and it ends up costing them money.

Sometimes cr@p happens -- and you don't get paid for it.

Answer 7

First, don't get a lawyer and start suing anyone. That's a stupid idea!! Lawyers and lawsuits should be a last resort. Her homeowners insurance will have medical payments AND liability coverage. Here's the trick......if your friend was negligent in maintaining her door which caused your injuries, it should be filed under her liability coverage, which will have substantially higher limits and would cover lost wages and pain and suffering. However, if it was simply a freak accident that your friend couldn't have prevented in any way, you would only be covered under the med pay portion which doesn't include provisions for lost wages or pain and suffering.

Your friend needs to file a homeowners claim and let her adjusters investigate. After the investigation and offer of settlement....if you're still not satisfied, then get a lawyer and let them handle it.