Florida is considered a no-fault state. That means when there’s an auto accident, each party’s insurance covers their medical expenses. That coverage is known as personal injury protection insurance. PIP insurance is $10,000 of coverage that your auto insurance policy has available to you for medical treatment. You can use that coverage after an accident for the hospital, seeing a primary care doctor, having an MRI, or going to therapy.
In order for you to qualify for personal injury protection in the state of Florida, all that’s required is being involved in a motor vehicle collision and having a car insurance policy that has PIP coverage. Unfortunately, if you’re in an accident with an uninsured or underinsured motorist, things could get complicated. In 2015, 13% of all motorists on the road were uninsured. Meaning they had no insurance coverage whatsoever. If you were in an accident with an uninsured motorist, call an auto accident attorney immediately.
To better help you understand what is needed in the state of Florida, and what PIP insurance is, we’ve broken it all down for you.
No-fault States
As mentioned before, Florida is a no-fault state. There are only 11 other states in the U.S. that are no-fault. Those states are Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Utah. All other states use the generic at-fault system, which is significantly different. Instead of each party’s insurance covering their own damages, in at-fault states, more or less, coverage is divided out based on who was at fault. For example, if a driver runs a red-light and rear-ends a stopped car in traffic, the driver who ran the red-light is completely at-fault. If that same situation happened in Florida, each insurance company would still cover damages for each policyholder.
Depending on which vehicle you are in that situation, it could be extremely beneficial if you live in a no-fault state. Even though the auto accident was completely your fault, you and the other vehicle are protected under insurance.
What does PIP Cover?
It is possible that if you’re in a passenger car, someone else’s personal injury protection can cover you. However, you must make a claim and go to a doctor within fourteen days of the accident to report that you’re injured. Preferably, you’d report all your injuries from head to toe. If you don’t make that report to a doctor within the time limit, your auto insurance company can deny making payments under your personal injury protection coverage.
In addition to your medical coverage under the $10,000, you could also be entitled to lost wages that resulted from the motor vehicle collision that you were involved in. However, that also comes out of the $10,000. So, you have a total of a $10,000 in coverage to cover you for lost wages and any applicable medical bills. Even if you don’t report injuries within that fourteen-day period of time, and even if your insurance company denies your coverage under that personal injury protection portion of your policy, you’re still entitled to make a claim for personal injuries that you sustained in a motor vehicle collision and recover against the other party who is at fault. That would be a claim against the other person’s insurance company.
PIP insurance will cover the following:
- Medical costs
- Lost wages
PIP will not cover all of your costs if they climb above that threshold of $10,000, though. When the $10,000 coverage is up, you are on your own. That’s why hiring an experienced accident attorney could be in your best interest. They can fight with the big insurance companies that are hoping to deny your claim.
How to file a Claim
You can make a claim against any person who has auto insurance. That could be a car, truck, or commercial motor vehicle. If a motorcycle hits you and has bodily injury insurance, you can make a claim against that policy as well.
But, for personal injury protection purposes, to receive that $10,000 in medical insurance coverage, you must make a claim within two weeks of the date of the collision. Remember, insurance coverage is available regardless of fault. So even if the other party says that they’re not at fault and that you are at fault, you’re still covered for that $10,000 of personal injury protection.
How Much is PIP Insurance?
Many things change your policy prices. The most common things that make rates fluctuate include age, type of vehicles, insurance companies, and location. In no-fault states that require PIP insurance coverage, it is usually already calculated into your base rate. That usually means that insurance rates will be higher.
According to the Insurance Information Institute, Florida is in the top five states when it comes to the highest annual auto insurance rates. The average motorist in Florida pays $2,059 a year for their auto insurance premium.
“Emergency Medical Condition”
Something you need to be extremely cautious of is the term “emergency medical condition”. Many insureds are getting swindled out of the money they deserve because they did not have an “emergency medical condition”.
The definition of an emergency medical condition is not specified, but if you do not need to be immediately rushed to the hospital, that seems to be the trigger. If you are not classified as having an emergency medical condition, you are only covered for $2,500 in medical bills through your personal injury protection coverage.
Contact Brais Law – Accident Lawyers
If you’ve been the unfortunate victim of an automobile accident, contact Brais Law – Accident Lawyers today. We’ll be able to discuss your case, and you’ll see how positive things will be with an experienced car accident lawyer in your corner. We can look at the evidence and let you know what it may be worth based on our past cases with similar circumstances.