Detailed Answer
North Carolina lets injured people recover the reasonable and necessary costs of receiving medical treatment. That includes out-of-pocket travel costs—mileage, parking, tolls, ride-share fares, hotel stays, and similar expenses—when the trips are directly tied to injury care. Below is a step-by-step roadmap to preserve and claim those dollars.
1. Track Every Trip in Real Time
- Create a mileage log. Record the date, destination (doctor’s office, physical therapist, imaging center), round-trip miles, and purpose.
- Keep all receipts for parking, tolls, bus or ride-share fares, and overnight lodging when treatment is far from home.
- Note any extra costs such as airport shuttles or wheelchair-accessible transportation.
2. Use One of Two Valuation Methods
- IRS Standard Mileage Rate. Multiply total medical-related miles by the current IRS medical mileage rate (e.g., 22¢ per mile in 2024). This method is widely accepted by insurers and courts because it is easy to verify.
- Actual Costs. Add up gas receipts, maintenance invoices attributable to the trips, and depreciation. Choose this only if it clearly exceeds the IRS rate and you have rock-solid proof.
3. Tie the Expense to Treatment
Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 8-58.1, an affidavit from your health-care provider or medical-records custodian can authenticate “charges for medical care and related expenses.” Ask the provider to reference your travel requirements—especially if you needed a specialty clinic outside your county.
4. Present the Claim to the Insurance Adjuster
- Include a mileage spreadsheet and scanned receipts in your demand letter.
- Attach the provider affidavit and a short personal declaration stating that the trips were necessary for treatment.
- Request reimbursement for the total travel figure as a separate line item.
5. Preserve Evidence for Litigation
If the case does not settle, you can enter your travel costs at trial through:
- Your own testimony supported by the mileage log (admissible as a summary of voluminous records under N.C. Rule of Evidence 1006).
- The medical-expense affidavit or live testimony from a provider confirming the necessity of the visits.
- Exhibits showing receipts and the IRS mileage table for the year(s) in question.
6. Mind the Statute of Limitations
You generally have three years from the accident date to file a personal injury lawsuit in North Carolina (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-52(16)). Keep your documentation for at least that long—longer if the claim involves a minor.
Helpful Hints
- Use a smartphone app to auto-track mileage; export a PDF when you are ready to settle.
- Store hard-copy receipts in a single envelope labeled “Travel Expenses.”
- Combine appointments when possible to reduce total mileage—insurers look for reasonableness.
- Update your log weekly; memories fade, and back-filling data looks suspicious.
- Ask your doctor to note in the chart when they refer you to an out-of-county specialist—this links the travel to medical necessity.
- If you use public transit, print the route and fare information from the transit authority’s website as proof.
- Save screenshots of ride-share receipts; the apps purge data after a time.
