Personal injury protection is represented as PIP. It is the extension of car insurance covering medical expenses and lost wages. It is referred to as no-fault coverage as natural comprehensiveness claims that are agnostic in an accident to understand who is at fault.
If you have PIP insurance and are hurt, you may receive maximum benefits whether the accident is your fault or not. Apart from the lost wages and medical bills, PIP insurance covers expenses such as medical appointments to transportation and lawn repair.
PIP, Personal injury protection covers both, lost wages and medical bills in a car accident and is optional in most states. Nevertheless, 16 states ask carrying PIP coverage to minimum amount. The PIP insurance overlaps with MedPay health insurance and also recommends multiple policies.
What is Personal Injury Protection?
Personal injury protection is a no-fault insurance that allows paying rehabilitative cots and medical bills for you and your passengers in a car accident. This insurance cover offers the required coverage even if you are in someone else’s car as a passenger and are hit by a cyclist or a pedestrian. PIP insurance is completely different, while PIP covers your expenses and liability insurance pays for the passengers and drivers medical expenses, if you are at fault in an accident.
PIP insurance may include the same coverage as any of your health insurance policy. However, the coverage of PIP is specifically oriented for car-related injuries that are excluded from health insurance policies, while the PIP insurance covers a number of additional expenses uncovered by MedPay insurance.
Do you need PIP if you have health insurance
If you are living in any of the 16 states that requires PIP coverage, there is need to file a claim under that policy. In case, you do not live in the 16 states list, PIP insurance provides benefits that you will not get from a health insurance policy such as funeral costs and lost wages.
A few states, such as Michigan and New Jersey have provisions to cover your PIP to work in conjunction with health insurance policy. For instance, if you are involved in Michigan in a car accident, your health insurance policy may cover the physical injuries and your PIP will cover the additional economic losses, such as lost wages you lost as you were in the hospital.
PIP insurance is compulsory in 13 states: Massachusetts, Minnesota, The District of Columbia, Florida, Kentucky, Hawaii, Kansas, Michigan, North Dakota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Utah.
The PIP cover varies with each state as per the state believes to be reasonable and customary. For instance, in Utah a permissible PIP medical treatment is acupuncture, while it is not in California.
Minimum PIP Requirements by State
PIP insurance is referred to as no-fault insurance as PIP coverage is a must at least for a minimum amount even if you are living in a no-fault state. Your own insurance policy covers expenses, regardless of the fact that another driver caused this accident. This is available until a threshold is met, it may be verbal or monetary, based on your state.
Monetary thresholds need medical expenses for an accident or individual to exceed the state designated amount before you file a lawsuit on another driver. Even, the verbal thresholds must specify the injury type to be met before filing a lawsuit. Typically, the verbal thresholds vary with each state and an individual must have perpetual and bodily function permanent loss, disfigurement, injury or death. The other variables include influence of alcohol or drugs to change the thresholds applied.
In addition to the 12 no-fault states, four fault-based states also require PIP coverage, and still other states allow you to purchase it as optional coverage.
New Jersey, Kentucky, and the District of Columbia operate as no-fault states optional. That means these policyholders may operate under the no-fault system, or consider operating under a tort liability system that permits them immediately to file a lawsuit.
How much does PIP insurance cost
The PIP insurance total cost varies based on the coverage limit and deductibles of the policy, including the state you live in. For instance, a quote for a 30-year old male driving in Florida a Toyota Camry showed the total price inclusion of a six-month policy of $25,000/$50000 , liability insurance of $25000, PIP coverage of $10,000, and collision and comprehensive coverage with deductibles $500.
|
State |
No-Fault coverage |
PIP |
Total Price |
PIP% of Total |
|
Florida |
$0 Deductible, $10,000 PIP |
$136.80 |
$769.60 |
17.8% |
|
|
$250 Deductible, $10,000 PIP |
$124.10 |
$756.90 |
16.4% |
|
|
$500 Deductible, $10,000 PIP |
$117.80 |
$750.60 |
15.7% |
|
|
$1,000 Deductible, $10,000 PIP |
$114.00 |
$746.80 |
15.3% |
Should I get medical payments insurance on top of PIP?
PIP and MedPay insurance cover medical bills after the auto accident. MedPay does not cover additional expenses that the PIP covers and this includes childcare rehabilitation services and lost wages.
Owing to this, MedPay becomes unnecessary, if you are living in a state offering PIP coverage. For instance, unlimited PIP coverage is required by Michigan so that MedPay coverage is redundant.
However, if there is a low limit in your state regarding the PIP insurance it requires, a medical payments policy may be enough to offer supplemental coverage. Three such states are Kansas, Florida, and Massachusetts. If you are a resident of any of these three states, consider adding to your policy MedPay insurance.
|
State |
$10,000 MedPay (Progressive) |
$10,000 MedPay (GEICO) |
$5,000 MedPay (Allstate) |
|
Florida |
$118/year |
$127/year |
$126/year |
|
Kansas |
$36 |
$49 |
$20 |
|
Massachusetts |
$114 |
$17 |
$90 |