Unfortunately in this day and age, accidents are all too common, and unless you’re covered, prepared or both, you may run into financial difficulties in dealing with it, regardless of whose fault it is. There is nothing more worrying than having to work out your finances when you go through a traumatic event like that. It’s not just about the medical expenses that you face after spending time in hospital, it’s how you plan to live when you can no longer do your job, or when you need to take extensive time off work potentially without pay. For some people, a car accident is more of a shock and they can continue in their everyday life once that shock is recovered from. For others, a car accident can be more devastating and leave them with injuries that affect them for the rest of their lives. This makes it a challenge when it comes to paying bills, buying groceries and necessities to continue living life.

When you’re going through a hard time, the last thing that you want to have to cope with are your finances. However, you DO have to deal with it, which is why you need to learn how to manage cash when you’ve dealt with an injury. With that in mind, let’s take a look at how you can minimise the cost of injury – emotionally and financially.

Look After Yourself

Before you do anything to do with your finances, you need to put yourself first. This means you need to follow the medical advice given to you by the doctors for physical injuries, and you need to look after your mental health, too. The financial burden of an injury is a blow and it can add to your stress. Bring your family and friends around you, and consider speaking to a car accident lawyer who can give the correct advice about financials. Honestly the way insurance companies operate today (looking after themselves, not you) it’s not a bad idea. Contact crisis support if you need to have the additional support, and don’t be naive to the emotional support you’ll need.

Know What You’re Entitled To!

You could be eligible for workers or public liability compensation after an injury, and you could also be entitled to more sick leave than you think. You need to speak to your employer (ideally HR) and you should check whether you are protected by insurance in the event of an injury that wasn’t caused by a car accident. Hopefully you’re employer will look after you but it never hurts to verify what benefits the government may mandate for you.

If you learn what you’re entitled to, you’ll know where to get help when in a crisis. You shouldn’t need to struggle after an injury, and it’s much less stressful if you know where the help is coming from.

Write A Budget

It can be hard to do this when you aren’t sure what your medical expenses will be in the future, nor will you know your income. However, even a guess can help you out when it comes to working out how much money you’ll have to manage. When your budget doesn’t quite stretch, this is where you work out what your options are for cash flow. You can do this by cutting your existing budget to make savings, and you can talk to your credit providers to see what you can negotiate.

Prepare Yourself

You can only do so much in the way of preparation when you don’t expect an injury to occur. Perhaps you’ve had health insurances bought previously, but you can only plan for an injury before the fact rather than after it. Insurance can protect your income, but only if you’ve bought it in advance. Whether it’s good auto insurance, good health insurance, good disability insurance, or a good umbrella policy, there are lots of options for you to protect yourself. Be as prepared as you can and hope that you wouldn’t have an injury in the future. Remember – no one ever likes paying for insurance until they need it, and then they’re glad they did!

Get Some Advice

Definitely talk to friends and family after going through an ordeal such as an injury, if if necessary consider a lawyer if your case is severe. The right lawyer can advise you on the way to manage your finances when you have had an injury. You need as much help as you can get to learn where you can earn some cash or get some financial support while you recover. You may think you’ve tried everywhere, but there’s a good chance that you haven’t thought of absolutely every avenue.

File A Case

The best thing that you can do as soon as you are able after an injury is to speak to a lawyer (some states have a shorter time frame). They’ll be able to talk you through whether or not you have a case for compensation, and the cash that comes from compensation can help you greatly when it comes to managing cash after an injury. They’ll give you guidance on which road to go down and support you through your case. The income you can get from filing a compensation case can keep you solvent until you get back to work again one day. 

Start Selling Unwanted Items

It’s about time you started looking at ways to bring in some money, and one of the top ways to do it is to start selling things that you no longer want. There are plenty of free sites to use for unwanted things, and you can list as much as you like for people to buy. That money can keep you going and keep the bills paid while you recover and start looking for other working options.

Freelance Your Skills

Perhaps you were in a role that many people had need of before you had your injury. There’s every chance that you could continue to work from home and sell your skills. Set up a website with the help of WordPress and start listing your skills for others in the local area to find. This can bring in a little cash to keep you supported while you wait for your case to come through. Consider driving for a ride sharing company, walking dogs or delivering food, all dependent on your ability to perform those tasks. There are plenty of websites that you can use nowadays to make some cash. Opinion pages and surveys can help to get you earning the small change and this alone can help to top up your finances. 

Staying ahead financially is not easy when you have an injury to deal with and medical expenses to cope with afterwards. However, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible! You can start to work your way through with your finances if you are careful and you look at every avenue that can help you along the way. An injury can be devastating, but it doesn’t have to be what sinks your finances. 

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