What are my rights if I missed time from work due to a motorcycle wreck?

Your employer can let you go. They can fire you if you don’t show up for work. They are under no obligation to keep you if you’re in a motorcycle accident unrelated to your job – though if you were on the job that’s different.

However, if you miss time from work due to an auto accident and you receive a note from your doctor writing you out of work for that time period, you could file a claim against the insurance company of the person who caused the wreck – to reimburse you for your lost income. And generally that is paid at the end of the case when we settle the bodily injury portion of the claim. It’s one lump sum. They don’t pay up front, they pay later on when the case settles.

It’s like for a car accident – I have a lot of clients in vehicle accidents, and they’re not at fault but they might not have health insurance. They may have $100,000.00 in medical bills, or they can’t get medical treatment because they don’t have health insurance, and it’s required to see your family doctor or a specialist. The other side doesn’t pay up front – you don’t get that until the end – so we’ll try and work with different providers to see if they’ll wait till the case settles and try to help the clients every way we can.

Sometimes you can file retroactively for Medicaid if you had a certain income level. There are different ways of trying to get around it, but it’s very difficult. Especially if you can’t work and you need surgery so you’re not getting a paycheck. If you don’t have any health insurance to pay for the surgery it can be a disaster.

If you have any more questions, or need legal advice after a motorcycle accident, call Auger & Auger Accident and Injury Lawyers at 800-559-5741.