Personal Injury Lawyer
PIP stands for Personal Injury Protection and it is part of your automobile insurance policy, as a personal injury lawyer in Arlington, TX can explain. Many state’s law requires an insurance company to offer drivers Personal Injury Protection insurance coverage (often referred to as PIP). The typical standard amount is $2,500.00. However, for a few extra dollars you can increase this type of coverage to $5,000, $10,000 and even up to $100,000.00! You should be given the option to reject it (it might save you a few dollars from your monthly premium) and unfortunately a lot of people do reject the coverage. If you do not formally reject (by signing a rejection form) then you have PIP in the amount of $2,500!
Personal Injury Protection coverage covers and pays for certain expenses resulting from an automobile collision. It will pay for medical bills and if the person that was injured was employed at the time and missed time off of work (leading to lost wages) then PIP will pay 80% of lost income. The insurance company may require proof in the form of medical documentation verifying that the claimant was unable to work for the time claimed. Some insurance companies will also accept documentation from your employer stating the dates that were missed from work due to the injuries sustained the motor vehicle accident. PIP will also pay for reasonable household duties that could not be performed due to an injury. For example, if you had to hire someone to clean your house due to your injury, when you regularly did it yourself). Personal Injury Protection coverage does not cost a lot of money and it will come in handy when those medical bills start coming in.
So what if you have health insurance? Do you still need PIP? Your health insurance should then cover your medical bills, but PIP can help with medication and deductibles. You need to make sure you have adequate coverage to protect you and help you in case you are involved in an accident and injured. Medical bills can add up quickly even if you have health insurance. Health insurance often times does not cover 100% of the medical bills and you may have to deal with satisfying deductibles before the health insurance starts making payments. Get as much coverage as your insurance company will sell you. Most insurance companies will sell you at least $10,000.00 in coverage under PIP, some will sell you even more.
Thanks to Brandy Austin Law Firm, PLLC for their insight into personal injury claims and PIP.