How Your Family Finances Can Be Impacted After a Major Injury

If you’ve suffered a major injury, your family finances could be affected in more ways than you’ve imagined.

Learning the different areas where you can suffer financial loss can help you take better steps to try to hold onto more of your money as you recover.

Here are some of the main ways that your family finances can be impacted after a major injury.

Increased Expenses to Cover Medical Bills

Even if you qualify for insurance payments or a settlement from the responsible party, you might have to wait for an extended period to receive the money.

As you’re waiting for this money, you may still have to pay medical bills by a certain due date, and this can greatly affect your family finances. Surgery, medications and rehabilitative care can be very costly and are just some of the expenses that you may incur.

According to Oaks Law Firm, a group of Riverside lawyers, all of these things can be difficult to deal with.

They can add a lot of financial strain on you and your family. This is not something your family should have to deal with on their own and therefore, you may want to consider hiring an attorney.

Rent or Mortgage Payment Defaults

Whether you rent your home or pay on a home loan, becoming injured can create more difficulties in making your monthly payments.

This may be especially true if you’re unable to work and generate any income while you’re recovering.

If you’re unable to make your rent or mortgage payments in a timely manner, you could face eviction or foreclosure.

Your landlord or home loan lender may be willing to work out an agreement with you that lets you pay the money that you owe at a later date if you’re honest about your situation.

A good lawyer can inform you of your rights as a rental tenant or homeowner and give you additional advice on how to best resolve your situation if you’re struggling to make housing payments.

Decreased Credit Score

If you’re unable to make your credit card or other loan payments on time because of the financial impact of your injury, your credit score could be lowered.

Having a lower credit score will make securing loans or extending your credit much more difficult, which can create more financial hardship for your family.

In addition to lowering your credit score, your outstanding payment amounts could be turned over to a collection agency that will try to recover the money on your lenders’ behalf, and you and your family may start receiving harassing phone calls and notices by mail because of this.

Additional Childcare

If you have children, you may need to pay more for childcare services if you require help with looking after your little ones because of your injury.

The hourly fees of some babysitters can be quite high, and some parents choose to pay more if they believe that they can get a more reputable childcare provider.

The cost of childcare could be even more expensive if you choose to enroll your children in a childcare center while you go through the process of recovering from your injury at home.

Housekeeping

Being injured often means having to have someone else do the cleaning and other household chores, and this can be especially true if no one else in your family can tend to your home the way that you like.

A professional housekeeper knows how to clean homes thoroughly and can eradicate many of the germs and viruses that can worsen your health condition while recovering from an injury, but this will come at a price.

Fortunately, many housekeepers are willing to be flexible with scheduling, and you can choose to have semiregular home cleanings instead of daily or weekly to save money.

Cutbacks

Having less money because of your injury might force you to cut back on many of your expenses, and this can lower your family’s quality of life.

As the National Institutes of Health explains, cutting back on expenses sometimes involves having to sell vehicles or move to a less-expensive area.

The reduction in expenses sometimes means having to sacrifice cable, internet, and phone service and go with providers who provide a lower quality of service.

You may also find yourself cutting back on visits to the doctor and dentist, and this can be detrimental to your family’s health.

Your personal injury can affect more than just your health. Being physically impaired can jeopardize your family’s financial wellbeing, but you can mitigate much of the damage if you find ways to save money and tap into the right resources.

 

Tags: illness, Major Injury, medical bills, Personal injury

Category: Family Finances