Personal Injury Protection: What Is It And Why It Is Important

If you or someone else were injured in a car accident, your Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance can help. However, the complexity of these policies often results in Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance disputes, where your insurance company refuses to pay. Understanding PIP insurance can help you fight and win these disputes.

What Is Personal Injury Protection?

Personal Injury Protection insurance can help cover costs related to an injury if you get into a car accident. This insurance is typically part of your car insurance policy, but it depends on the state. Personal Injury Protection can help if you or the passengers in your vehicle were injured in an accident.

What Does It Cover?

It’s important to mention that any passengers in the car who received injuries from the accident can benefit from PIP insurance. So if someone in your vehicle during the accident broke their arm, your PIP insurance can help cover their medical bills or other relevant expenses mentioned below.

Medical Bills

Any medical expenses you have because of an injury you sustained in the car accident can be covered by PIP insurance. Whether or not you have health insurance. PIP can cover all or most of your medical bills.

Lost Wages

If you cannot work due to your injury, PIP insurance can help cover this loss of income. How much they compensate you will depend on your job and typical income.

Funeral Expenses

In the worst scenarios, PIP insurance can help pay for funeral expenses. This can also apply if the person dies later as a result of injuries sustained during the accident.

Survivor Benefits

If someone dies in the accident or due to the accident, leaving behind dependents, PIP insurance can help support the survivors.

Necessary Services

If you cannot perform necessary services, insurance can pay for someone else to do these services. These services include things like childcare, house cleaning, and similar tasks.

What Is Not Covered?

Now that you know PIP insurance can cover in case of an accident, it’s important to mention what they cannot cover. PIP insurance will not help cover the cost of the following things:

• Damage to your property

• Damage to someone else’s property

• Other drivers’ injuries in an accident

• Injuries that occurred while committing a crime (fleeing from police, committing a robbery, etc.)

• Injuries that occurred while driving professionally (Lyft, Uber, etc.)

Why Is Personal Injury Protection Important?

Personal Injury Protection is important because it can protect you, your loved ones, and the passengers in your vehicle. The expenses that follow a car accident injury can be immense, and this insurance can help you manage during this difficult time. And in the tragic event that you or someone in the car passes away, PIP insurance can help support survivors.

Do I Need Personal Injury Protection Insurance?

In some states, it is legally required that you have PIP insurance. So in other states, technically, you do not need it. But as discussed in the section above, having PIP insurance can be extremely helpful, assisting you and your loved ones if a terrible accident occurs. While the government may not require you to have this insurance in certain states, you should get it if you can afford it.

States Where PIP Is Required

All drivers in the states listed below must have PIP insurance to drive legally:

• Arkansas

• Delaware

• Maryland

• Oregon

• Florida

• Hawaii

• Kansas

• Kentucky

• Massachusetts

• Michigan

• Minnesota

• New York

• North Dakota

• Pennsylvania

• Utah

All other states on this list make PIP insurance optional, so drivers can opt in or out of it when purchasing a car insurance plan. But as discussed, having PIP insurance is important!

Bottom Line

While PIP insurance disputes are a hassle, it’s still a valuable insurance policy. Being injured in a car accident can be traumatic and scary, but having PIP insurance can help make the aftermath of medical expenses and grief more manageable.