What Is PIP?
"PIP" stands for Personal Injury Protection insurance. Florida law requires each
owner of a motor vehicle to carry "PIP" or Personal Injury Protection insurance
on their car as a condition of having a valid registration. The minimum coverage
that must be carried to comply with the law is $10,000 of Personal Injury
Protection and $10,000 of property damage liability. Personal Injury Protection
insurance will pay you a portion of your lost wages and medical bills if you are
involved in a motor vehicle accident, regardless of who caused the accident.
That is why this law is sometimes referred to as the no fault law.
Under the Personal Injury Protection law, your insurance company must pay 80% of
your reasonable and necessary medical bills incurred as a result of a motor
vehicle accident. The law also provides that you may recover 60% of your lost
wages. The medical benefits cover all reasonable expenses for necessary medical,
surgical, x-ray, dental and rehabilitative services, including prosthetic
devices. Your insurance company will also pay for necessary ambulance, hospital
and nursing services. If a death results from the accident, the personal injury
protection insurer may have to pay a death benefit under this policy.
Florida law allows individuals to carry a deductible on their personal injury
protection coverage. If you elected such a deductible, you should know that the
effect of that is that you are "self-insured" for the amount of your deductible.
In other words, if you have personal injury protection insurance with a $2,000
deductible, you have agreed to pay the first $2,000 of your lost wages and
medical bills if you are in an accident. This is true even if the accident is
totally the fault of someone else.
When you have been involved in an automobile related accident and it is the
result of someone else's negligence, you may seek damages for bills and expenses
that are not covered under Personal Injury Protection Insurance. This may
include the cost of your deductible, medical expenses and lost wages not covered
by Personal Injury Protection Insurance, and pain and suffering. Maximizing your
benefits is something that Kinney, Fernandez & Boire can help you achieve. We
will help to make sure medical bills and lost wages are paid in such a way to
obtain payment of your PIP benefits in the most efficient manner, so as to make
the best use of these benefits that are available to you. For example, you would
not want your lost wages being applied toward your deductible. Instead, you
would be better off asking that your lost wages be placed in line for payment
after the deductible has been met. Maximizing your benefits can also incorporate
health insurance benefits that may be available to you.
Overall, we will work to ensure that whatever benefits are available to cover
medical expenses, lost wages, and any other expenses, are used in the best
manner possible in order to keep out-of-pocket expenses to a minimum. This will
position your case in the best way when it comes time to initiate settlement
negotiations with the insurance company for the at-fault party. Our clients are
always in a better position when medical expenses and lost wages have been
addressed properly during the time leading up to negotiations. This can
sometimes take months, depending on the type of injury and the response you have
to whatever forms of treatment you need. Regardless, we want to position your
case in such a way as to be able to provide you with as much a recovery as we
can, as opposed to large portions of a recovery going to pay bills that have
been incurred. In other words, we believe it is our responsibility to try to put
as much money obtained in your case in your pocket, for future needs,
retraining, pain and suffering etc., as opposed to having to use much of the
money to pay your outstanding bills.
Using your PIP insurance, and any other benefits that may be available to you,
while you are treating and waiting to reach what is called "Maximum Medical
Improvement" is vital to keeping a "check" on your expenses and situating your
case in the best way to achieve a satisfactory and fair settlement a the end. We
do understand that victims of negligence that have suffered personal injury are
often not simply concerned with money. Rather, they are concerned about their
physical and mental well-being, being able to continue the work and personal
activities they could before getting injured, the effects an injury has on their
family, and many other very personal and emotional challenges. However,
financial concerns will always be a part of recovering from a traumatic injury
and we can help so, hopefully, you have a little less to worry about.
LET US PUT OUR TEAM TO WORK FOR YOU !
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