Personal Injury Protection Protects Beyond The Family Car

personal injury protection auto insurance

Personal Injury Protection Protects Beyond The Family Car

An optional insurance coverage that can protect families and their finances is Personal Injury Protection coverage, which also is known as “PIP” insurance. The coverage is similar to health insurance in that is protect the driver, passengers and others against the potential costs of being injured in an accident or other event while traveling. The policy offers a generous level of coverage not only for the policyholder but also for family members, those living in the home, passengers and anyone driving the vehicle for which coverage has been purchased.

The plan offers medical payments coverage on top of any liability insurance that might apply and helps keep family finances secure against such sudden losses. Some states refer to PIP plans as no-fault auto insurance, and the few that still have it in place as the primary types of insurance coverage often experience a great deal of fraud tied to it. Personal Injury Protection travels with those who are covered by its terms, including the policyholder and family members who might be living with him or her. So if they are the passengers in a vehicle owned by someone else and are injured due to an accident or other mishap, the PIP coverage still would pay the bills.

Unfortunately, that means it has become easy for fraudulent operators to target states with no-fault auto insurance laws and abuse the PIP provisions within them. One of the most common ways fraud is perpetrated through no-fault and PIP insurance laws is to stage an accident, send the “victims” to a crooked medical operation that then charges the insurance company a great deal for medical costs and treatments that never were rendered. Many states have fought back, and Michigan is considering revoking its long-standing no fault insurance law that has made the automotive state one of the costliest in which to insure a vehicle.

While personal health insurance plans often cover the costs of medical treatments for legitimate victims of auto accidents in states with PIP laws and no-fault auto insurance plans, any costs not covered are paid by the Personal Injury Protection insurance coverage. That means any health insurance deductibles will be paid by PIP plans as well as any co-pays, dental care, psychiatric services, the cost of prescription drugs, in home nursing care and, in the worst of circumstances, funeral costs. PIP policy limits, of course, place a ceiling on just how much will be paid by such types of insurance.

Only 12 states have no fault auto insurance requiring PIP insurance plans be purchased, and nearly every one of them has a high degree of fraudulent auto insurance claims as a result. But many now are taking a hard stance against such fraud and the impact they have on the state’s honest motorists who have no intention of committing fraud and who do not go out of their way to cause accidents. But when no fault insurance laws are abused, the costs always get passed down the law-abiding citizens, making it harder for them to make ends meet.

personal injury protection auto insurance