The Real Costs of a Car Crash: What Most Families Never See Coming  

After a car accident, your focus should be on what’s right in front of you: healing from your injuries and making sure you can keep moving forward. In the immediate aftermath, everything feels chaotic. Plans fall apart, routines are disrupted, and you’re just trying to make sure everyone is okay. But once the dust settles and the adrenaline fades, the true impact of the accident begins to surface. 
For many people, that’s when the pain becomes harder to ignore and the ripple effects on work, family, and daily life become clear. 
“I have seen client after client come in with debilitating pain that not only prevents them from working but forces them to quit their profession altogether. When they come to Chaffin Luhana, they’re looking for hope. They want to know that they’ll have a future,” said Eric Chaffin, head of the personal injury team and co-founder of Chaffin Luhana. 
If you or a loved one has been in a car accident, one of the most important steps you can take is seeking the guidance of an experienced car accident attorney who understands how deeply an accident can disrupt your life. 

The Medical Bills Keep Coming 

An emergency room visit is often just the start. Many injuries don’t show their full impact immediately. What looks like a minor strain today can turn into chronic pain that requires ongoing testing and treatment. 
 
Take Jay, for example. He was diagnosed with spina bifida at the age of 12 and was paralyzed from the knees down. Because he was in a wheelchair as the front passenger, he was thrown around with more force than the driver was when a car hit them in a head-on collision. He hit the windshield and the side window, suffered a concussion, but it wasn’t until a week afterwards that he realized the aches and pains he felt would prevent him from working. 
 
Watch Jay Tell His Story

“Most people don’t realize how quickly the costs add up. A missed week of work, a few medical visits, and suddenly the whole household feels it,” said Patrick Booth, Partner and lead of the Chaffin Luhana personal injury team. 
 
Two studies completed by the National Institute of Health (NIH) found that people with insurance could pay up to $550 out-of-pocket for a single MRI. People without insurance pay between $400 and $12,000 depending on where they live and the type of imagining they need.  
 
Insurance copays for short term physical therapy can range between $120 and $1,400. Without insurance, car accident victims pay between $1,200 and $8,000 depending on where they live. These costs don’t take into account specialist appointments, which often come with higher out-of-pocket costs, medications and medical equipment like crutches, braces, back supports and more. If victims experience life-altering injuries, they might need to modify their homes or move to as more suitable living situation to accommodate their new reality. Insurance claims rarely take these types of costs into account when settling a claim.  

Lost Income Nobody Plans For 

The cruel reality is that the medical bills are easy to quantify and account for. But injuries don’t just affect a person’s physical health. They create a ripple effect throughout the injured person’s life that is more difficult to quantify and therefore more destructive.  
 
Doreeka, a med tech, saw the future she had planned for herself evaporate in an instant when another driver ran a red light. She was thrown from her vehicle, broke many bones, lost her spleen and had to relearn to walk. Even after all of the surgeries and therapy, she could not return to her profession. And she was young—not even close to being able to retire. 
   
“When people think about lost wages,” Booth says, “they often consider only the days they couldn’t work. But it’s so much more than that. It’s the promotion they missed, the overtime they couldn’t take, and the career momentum that just stopped.”  
 
Doreeka didn’t just deserve her medical bills covered or her car replaced — she deserved to be made whole again. What was taken from her couldn’t be undone, but accountability mattered. Through hard-fought justice, Chaffin Luhana secured a settlement that gave Doreeka the chance to move forward on her terms and rebuild a future she could stand behind, including pursuing her goal of nursing school. 

The Other Effects on Everyday Life  

The disruption to daily life caused by a car crash results in consequences rarely quantified in an insurance claim. These include additional costs like:  

• Additional transportation costs like towing fees ($120 on average), rideshare expenses (about $200), and rental car costs (about $700) that accumulate when someone is without their vehicle. 
• Additional household costs like childcare ($300/week), elder care ($300/week), food delivery (at least $50/week), laundry (at least $50/week), and house cleaning services ($100/week) that are needed when one or more household members can’t contribute their normal labor. 
• Therapy the family needs to deal with the trauma of the accident and the psychological weight of its aftermath. Children of car crash victims are especially vulnerable to increased stress and anxiety due to disrupted routines and parental stress. The cost of therapy varies greatly depending on whether or not you have insurance that covers this type of service. People with insurance typically pay a per session copay ranging from $20-50. People without insurance will pay between $90 and $300+ per visit. 

“People come to us exhausted and emotionally drained,” says Roopal Luhana, co-founder of Chaffin Luhana. “That exhaustion is real, and it matters just as much as any medical bill.”   

Why These Invisible Costs Matter in a Legal Case  

When families file an insurance claim or pursue a legal case after a crash, insurance companies often focus on narrow categories: medical bills, car repairs, and provable lost wages. But this narrow focus ignores so much of what families actually go through.   
 
“Insurance companies rarely consider the emotional strain or the long-term disruption a family experiences,” Booth said. “But these are the traumas that are the hardest, and sometimes the most expensive, to heal.”   
 
Insurance adjusters are trained to minimize payouts so families can also become victimized by insurance companies that seek to settle claims quickly. Adjusters will often push for a settlement before families truly understand the long-term impact of their injuries. When families settle too quickly, they give up their right to seek additional compensation if their situation gets worse.   
 
Once the settlement is signed, that’s it, no matter what happens next.   

Why Documentation Matters  

One of the reasons families struggle to get fair compensation is that these hidden costs aren’t documented the way medical bills are. There’s no invoice for the emotional exhaustion of being a full-time caregiver while recovering from your own injuries. There’s no receipt for not knowing if you’ll be able to pay next month’s rent.  

But many of these costs can be documented. Families can:  

• Keep a daily journal of how injuries affect their routine.  
• Track all out-of-pocket expenses, no matter how small.   
• Save receipts for meals, transportation, childcare, and household help.  
• Document missed work hours and lost opportunities.   
• Record the emotional and practical impacts on children and relationships.   
• Get letters from doctors, therapists, counselors, employers, teachers, and anyone who can help lend credence to the issues the family faced after the accident.  
• This documentation becomes essential evidence that tells the full story of what a crash actually cost.   

This documentation becomes essential evidence that tells the full story of what a crash actually cost.   

“Families often underestimate how powerful their own notes can be,” said Luhana. “A simple record of symptoms, missed work, or daily struggles helps us show the human story, not just the medical bills.”  
 
Simple Steps That Make Recovery Easier  
The aftermath of a crash is overwhelming, but there are practical steps families can take early on to protect themselves financially and emotionally.  

1. Seek medical evaluation early.  
Even if you feel fine at first, it’s always wise to see a doctor after an accident. Some injuries may not show symptoms right away. If you have a medical record created soon after the crash, that can support your story later if pain shows up or gets worse over time.   

2. Track symptoms, daily struggles, and missed work.  
Start documenting from day one. You can use a simple notebook or a notes app on your phone. Then write down all the following:   

• Every symptom, even minor ones  
• How the injuries affect your daily life (can’t lift your child, can’t sleep on one side, trouble concentrating at work)  
• All medical appointments, what was discussed, and follow-up instructions  
• Every expense related to the crash, from prescriptions to parking fees  
• How the crash affected your family—children missing activities, household routines that changed, stress different members experience  

This journal becomes powerful evidence of what you actually went through, beyond what appears on medical bills. You don’t have to write a lot. Even a few sentences every day can help you see patterns and remember details later.   

3. Save every receipt.   
Keep track of all expenses, no matter how small they may seem. Include the following:   

• Medical co-pays and bills  
• Prescription and over-the-counter medications  
• Travel costs for medical appointments (mileage, parking, tolls)  
• Rideshare or taxi receipts  
• Meal delivery or restaurant receipts if you couldn’t cook  
• Childcare or eldercare expenses  
• Home care or cleaning services  
• Any equipment you needed to purchase  

Take photos of the receipts and store them digitally so you don’t lose them. Even small expenses can add up.   

4. Don’t Rush Into a Settlement  
Insurance companies often make quick settlement offers, sometimes within days or weeks of an accident. These offers can sound tempting, particularly when your bills are piling up. But accepting too quickly almost always means accepting far less than your case is worth.

You can’t know the full cost of a crash until:   

• You’ve completed medical treatment or understand the long-term prognosis  
• You know whether your injuries will affect your ability to work  
• You’ve seen how the crash impacts your family over time  
• You understand all the costs, not just the obvious ones  

Once you accept a settlement and sign a release, you can’t come back for more money, even if your situation gets worse.   

5. Talk to Someone Who Will Listen  
When you’re ready, speaking with an attorney who understands personal injury cases can help you understand all of your options. Not all attorneys are the same. Look for someone who takes the time to listen to your story, explains things in plain language you can understand, and treats you like a person rather than a number.   

A good attorney won’t pressure you. They’ll guide you through what’s possible, what to expect, and how to protect your family’s interests going forward.  

You Don’t Have to Navigate This Alone   

If you’re reading this article because you or someone you love was in a crash, you may recognize parts of your own story here. Be assured that what you’re experiencing—the financial pressure, the emotional toll, and the disruption to your entire life—is real, and it matters. Other families have been where you are now.  
 
The most important thing to remember is this: the real cost of a car crash isn’t just what shows up on a medical bill or insurance estimate. It’s everything your family went through, and you deserve to have someone who sees the full picture of what your family has endured.  
You’ve carried a lot already. Let us help carry some of it with you. When you’re ready, we’re here to make sure your family has the support and protection it deserves.