My son was hurt while riding in a friend’s car—who will be responsible for his medical bills?

School is back in session, and that means that children and teens all over the nation are being shuttled back and forth to school and practices by their friends or their friends’ parents. While we all hope that each ride will be perfectly safe, it can be difficult to know what to do if your child is involved in a car accident as a passenger.

If the driver in question was the child’s other parent or guardian, he or she would be covered under the driver’s auto insurance policy. Things get a bit trickier in your scenario, however, because the driver was not a relative.

Third-Party Claims Protect Passengers in Accidents

Much of the answer to your question lies in which driver is responsible for the accident in question: was it the driver your child was riding with, or was it the other driver involved in the crash? Once liability is determined, you will be able to file what is known as a third-party claim against that driver’s insurer, and your son will be able to receive coverage for his medical bills through that driver’s insurance policy.

Third party claims can take a while to come to fruition, and you may be facing major medical bills while you wait for the other insurer to come through. In this situation, your own insurance policy may be able to front the bill for some of your medical costs. This coverage, known as med pay coverage, has some monetary limitations but is generally good for bridging the gap between treating injuries and a successful injury claim.

While it is devastating that your son was injured under someone else’s watch, his injuries will still be covered under one of the drivers’ insurance policies. Should you need assistance assigning liability or deciding on your next step, please call Houston accident attorney Steve Lee to schedule a free consultation.