In Alabama, being even a little at fault can wipe out your case completely. In Mississippi, that part is better: under pure comparative negligence, you can still recover money even if the insurer says you were partly to blame for a lane shift or work-zone mess on U.S. 49 or I-10 near Gulfport. The bad news is the check can still get carved up fast.

Worst case, your settlement gets reduced by four different buckets before you see much of anything: your unpaid medical bills, reimbursement claims from health insurance or Medicaid/Medicare, case expenses, and a fault reduction if the insurer says you should have avoided the crash.

For gig drivers like Uber, DoorDash, or Amazon Flex, this hits harder because there is usually no workers' comp and no employer paying bills while you're out. If you were logged into the app, there may be app-based coverage, but those companies and the at-fault driver's insurer often point fingers at each other while bills pile up.

The fees people miss most are things like:

• ER and ambulance balances
• Imaging bills read by separate providers
• Health insurance reimbursement
• Medical record charges
• Filing fees and expert costs
• Vehicle storage or towing
• Lost income proof costs for tax returns or accountant letters

It goes better when liability is clear, treatment is documented early, and the right insurer gets put on notice now. If road construction, a flagger, or a government vehicle was involved, timing gets dangerous. Claims against a Mississippi government entity can trigger a 90-day notice requirement and a 1-year deadline under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act. Most ordinary injury claims have a 3-year deadline.

If insurers are stalling, get the billing ledger, ask who claims reimbursement, and find out whether any lien has already been asserted. Waiting can turn negotiable deductions into fixed ones.