You attend school in Lexington, enjoying your time at the University of Kentucky, but the traffic in this area is not light. Many younger drivers are on the roads, and they can get congested around where UK, Baptist Health, UK Hospital and other areas of the school and hospital system collide.
On one hand, it’s nice that you’re so close to everything you could need for school or in an emergency, but on the other, there is almost no day that goes by without a near miss. If you get into a crash, it could be serious enough that you’ll have to stay in the hospital, pull out of school or stop attending completely.
Injured in a crash and missing school? You could seek back tuition fees
Usually, a personal injury claim is used to get compensation for your financial losses and pain and suffering after a serious crash. For example, if you suffered a head injury, then you might ask for compensation to cover the medical care you already received, the care you will receive in the future and any wage loss on top.
What about school, though? You pay tuition each semester, and if you can’t attend, that tuition is lost. You’re still going to have to pay the bill eventually, so should you seek that out as well?
Since a claim is meant to return you to as “whole” as possible, it is reasonable to bring up the cost of lost tuition and to seek that during the claim if you cannot return to school and the school won’t allow you to back out of the semester free of charge. In some cases, schools will allow you to drop courses or pause your classes in a serious situation like this, but if not, it may be reasonable to ask to have the missed time paid for by the at-fault party.
Your personal injury claim is going to be unique. If you’re concerned about tuition or the room and board you paid for a dormitory you didn’t use due to the crash, you may want to discuss adding these fees into your personal injury lawsuit.
