If you or a member of your family suffered a spinal cord injury in a car crash, you probably already know how expensive the care for such injuries can be. Your family may have a long road ahead involving negotiating with an insurance company or pursuing a personal injury claim because of all of your financial losses.
Whether you are putting a price on the lawsuit you intend to file or examining a settlement offer, you need to have a realistic view of all of the costs that your family will incur because of this injury. Yes, medical expenses and lost wages are major contributing factors. However, you should not overlook how expensive retrofitting your house for disability accessibility might be.
You might spend thousands to make your house accessible
The location and severity of the victim’s spinal cord injury will play a role in the accommodations someone needs. An incomplete spinal cord injury might allow someone to move independently with the use of crutches or a cane, while a complete spinal cord injury is probably going to require wheelchair-accessible spaces. Those with tetraplegia will have different requirements than those with paraplegia.
Regardless of the specific needs, you can expect to spend thousands of dollars making your home safe. A wheelchair ramp alone might cost several thousand dollars, as could retrofitting your bathroom and kitchen to make them disability accessible. Grab bars, chair lifts and other crucial accessibility devices can also be costly.
Your family needs to factor in how much it will cost to make your house safe and habitable when making a claim against another driver or negotiating with an insurance company. Otherwise, you may accept far less than what you actually deserve given the household costs caused by a spinal cord injury.
