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Teri Lou, December 19 2022

What Is PIP Insurance?

PIP Auto Insurance: What Does PIP Insurance Cover?

If you have ever been in a car accident, you know there is a chance that you or your passengers could get hurt in a car accident. Personal injury protection (PIP) can pay for your and your passengers' injuries, no matter who was at fault for the accident. As part of their "no fault auto insurance" laws, many states require PIP. This makes it harder to sue for injuries caused by a car accident. Even if it is not required where you live, PIP can be a good part of a good car insurance policy. 

How does a PIP work?

Different states have different requirements and features for auto insurance, and PIP coverage is mostly available in no-fault states. In a no-fault state, if a policyholder is hurt in a car accident, their policy pays for their medical care, no matter who was at fault. Policyholders with PIP coverage can get benefits even if the other driver does not have insurance. 

In addition to making medical care more affordable, PIP coverage often pays for lost wages, child care, and funeral costs caused by an accident. Some no-fault states offer medical payment coverage, but it usually has low limits and does not pay for these other costs.

Several states and Puerto Rico require PIP insurance on your car as of 2016. The states requiring this form of insurance are: 

Please note that these rules are subject to modification; therefore, it is recommended to confirm the kind of coverage your state necessitates by contacting a local agent. Minimum coverage requirements are set by state governments and can vary. Insurance companies set the limits, which can vary but are usually no more than $25,000. 

Anyone hurt in a car accident must file a PIP claim with their insurance company. Then, each driver's insurance company pays for their insured person's damages up to the minimum amount set by their state. If the damages to the person's body exceed the threshold amount, the person who was hurt can sue the driver who caused the accident. 

What is considered PIP?

PIP includes anything accident related that prevents you from living normally. Of course, every company will have different factors they consider. Before you even worry about a lawsuit, this insurance can help to cover costs if the insurance company accepts the claim. As lawsuits can take months or even years, this can help to cover the cost of recovery. 

PIP also protects you if you are hit by a car while a pedestrian or bicycle, as well as while you are a passenger in another person's vehicle. Additionally, PIP coverage pays for your personal expenditures, in contrast to bodily injury liability insurance, which covers the medical costs of other drivers and passengers hurt in an accident you caused. On the other hand, PIP insurance is designed expressly for auto-related injuries, which are occasionally excluded from health insurance policies.

How do you claim PIP money?

The insurance company that covers you can give you the money for a PIP claim. 

The first step is to set up a claim with the insurance company. Have the name of the policyholder and the policy number ready. In some cases, PIP funds can be given directly to medical providers. In other cases, accident victims can get money back for their costs. Be ready to show proof, like medical bills, receipts, or proof that you lost pay. 

By law, accidents have to be a certain level of bad before PIP can be used. 

PIP does not cover accidents where medical costs are less than $1,000 or where the victim does not have a permanent scar, broken bone, compression fracture, loss of body part, probable permanent injury, permanent loss of function, or death. 

Injured drivers may run into a problem when trying to collect PIP insurance because insurance companies make money by collecting premiums, not by paying out claims. This means that your insurance company may do everything it can to lower the value of your claim and pay out the bare minimum if it pays out anything at all. Therefore, the best thing you can do after a car accident is to talk to hire a car accident lawyer who can help you through the claims process.

How much does PIP cost?

PIP car insurance is not too expensive when considering how much it can help drivers after an accident. For the coverage limits that PIP insurance offers, you can expect to pay anywhere from $5 to $50 per month. However, this can vary by state and each driver's factors. 

What can you have paid for with PIP?

PIP insurance covers: 

One goal of PIP is to pay for car accident injuries quickly. Since PIP claims are paid out no matter who caused the accident, there is no need to wait for a lawsuit against the person who caused the accident to be settled.

What evidence do you need for PIP?

Starting a PIP claim is pretty much the same as starting any other kind of car insurance claim after an accident. After a car accident, one of the first things you should do is tell your car insurance company what happened. 

If you have PIP coverage, the insurance company representative will often tell you how to start the PIP claim process during this first phone call. This could mean using a claim tool on the insurance company's website or app. Alternatively, it could be something the insurance company rep can do over the phone. 

With some PIP claims, once the process is up and running, you will send in medical bills, proof of lost income, and receipts or invoices for other covered out-of-pocket losses as they come in, and the insurance company will pay you for those losses according to the terms of your coverage. 

Is it difficult to get PIP?

In America, it is easy because you can just add it to your insurance. The states that require PIP work with the insurance companies to ensure it's included from the beginning of the policy. People living in states that do not require PIP can simply call their car insurance provider and request a quote or add the insurance to their policy.

How is PIP paid out?

Your car insurance will pay for your medical bills and some or all of your lost income due to a car accident up to the limits of your PIP coverage. For example, some states have a two-part medical bill limit, which means that if the injured person has health insurance, the PIP insurer might only have to pay a small amount of the injured person's medical bills, and the health insurer will pay the rest. 

After meeting one or both of these limits, you can leave the state's no-fault system and make a claim directly against the driver who caused the accident for your out-of-pocket losses. It also means you can ask for money for things like pain and suffering. As these types of damages, which you cannot get with a PIP claim, can be a big deal financially, especially after a serious accident with serious injuries.

Why is PIP needed?

When you or your passengers are hurt in a car accident, personal injury protection (PIP) insurance pays for your medical bills and lost wages. Most states do not make you have PIP. But 16 states require you to have at least some PIP coverage. Your health or MedPay insurance may overlap with your PIP insurance, but there are times when you should have more than one policy. 

Why choose Portland Urgent Care for auto-injury treatment?

In a car accident, damage could happen to any part of the body. Accidents can cause concussions, limited movement, bruising, bleeding, weakening, deformity, instability, and pain. Furthermore, accidents often cause mental suffering and worry.

Portland Urgent Care offers a variety of medical professionals to help people recover from accidents. In addition, Oregon requires Personal Injury Protection insurance with at least $15,000 in medical coverage for all drivers. This insurance is known as no-fault insurance in Oregon. 

Regardless of who was at blame, you are entitled to the maximum PIP insurance if you or someone else was hurt in a car accident or were hit by a car. If you have auto insurance in Oregon, you are eligible for benefits that will pay the cost of medical care and rehabilitation for injuries. For more information about your options for medical coverage, please get in touch with our clinic.

Conclusion

A car accident can damage far more than your car. Medical bills, lost wages, and other costs can add up quickly and make a big dent in your bank account. Personal injury protection can help pay for these costs and protect your friends and family after an accident that is covered by the policy. Call or walk into Portland Urgent Care any time after your accident to get the medical attention you need. 

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Written by

Teri Lou

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