Personal Injury Protection On Car Insurance
PIP, or personal injury protection, is a type of elective car insurance that pays monetary benefits to everyone who is physically hurt in your car after a vehicular accident. In other words, when you have PIP protection, you and every other person who was harmed in your car during an automobile accident receives money to cover expenses such as emergency and follow-up hospital and doctor visits, and wages lost due to personal injury recovery.
Some states require PIP coverage on car insurance, while other states offer you the choice to add it on to your state-mandated car insurance policy. Additionally, if you are a passenger in someone else’s car that is covered with PIP protection, you automatically receive the coverage if are you are injured in an accident in that person’s car.
Do You Need PIP If You Have Health Insurance?
You should keep a few key points in mind while determining if you need PIP in addition to your already existing health insurance plan:
- Your health insurance deductible might be expensive. Therefore, in the event of an unexpected accident, you might not have the money to pay your health insurance deductible. This lack of funds could put into a bind while you or another family member is hurt and needs on-going medical care. One of the most attractive things about PIP if you already have health insurance is that PIP has no deductible, so when you have the elective coverage, you won’t have to worry about you and your family members getting the prompt care they need to recover from the accident. Actually, PIP pays all necessary and reasonable medical expenses incurred in the accident up to the dollar value of the policy.
- Health insurance companies generally do not cover lost wage expenses that you or your loved one might experience due to an extended personal injury. However, PIP will pay monetary benefits (which can be used to pay rent, bills and buy groceries) directly to you, family members and friends who can’t work after a serious automobile accident.
- Your health insurance company might want you to reimburse them if you receive money from an auto insurance company in a personal injury settlement arising from the accident. So, after court costs, lawyer’s fees and lost paychecks, you might also have to pay your own insurance company for the expenses they incurred during your car accident’s trial. Therefore, you might not see a dime of your well-deserved personal injury settlement. However, if you have ample PIP coverage, you and your family will be financially protected against sudden automobile accident catastrophe.
Why You Need Personal Injury Protection Even If A Car Accident Is Not Your Fault
If you’re like most people, you might think that you do not need PIP if you are involved in an accident that is not your fault. While it is true that the offending driver’s liability coverage should cover all of the damages that you incur, you might get into an accident with someone who does not even have liability insurance. In that case, you would be left totally unprotected, and probably have to pay for all of your property damages and medical expenses yourself. On the other hand, if the person who hit you is under-insured, or does not have ample coverage to cover all of your medical expenses and property damages, you might still have to absorb some of the costs incurred due to the accident yourself.
How To Get PIP When You Already Have Health Insurance
Now that you know how much you could lose without personal injury protection, it’s time to figure out how to supplement your already existing health insurance. PIP coverage is not expensive, and many times you can get a $10,000 PIP policy at a very affordable rate. However, you might need more personal injury protection coverage if you earn a very high income, carry a lot of debt or have an already existing medical condition that could worsen if you are physically injured.
PIP Coverage Car Insurance Quotes
You can take a peek at what PIP coverage will cost you right now by enter your zip code and comparing car insurance quotes from the best auto insurance companies nationwide. MyCarInsuranceRates.com offers informative articles on the benefits of having PIP in addition to your regular health insurance, and free rate quotes from leading auto insurance companies so you can compare PIP coverage costs from the privacy and comfort of your own home.
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