Personal Injury Protection — The PIP Portion of your Insurance Policy

Deciding what insurance coverage works for you can be a daunting task. The plain fact of the matter is that there is so much policy jargon, bureaucracy, stipulations, expectations, and requirements many people do not fully understand what they are really getting from their insurance companies. In an effort to help ease some of the stress that insurance policies may inflict, I want to share some facts regarding the "Personal Injury Protection" portion of your automotive insurance.

Personal Injury Protection is an extension of car insurance (available in some states but required by law in Utah) that covers medical expenses and, in some cases, lost wages, loss of household services, and other damages. Often times referred to as PIP, it works as no fault coverage because the statutes enacting it are no fault laws. This means that you will be covered by PIP no matter who is at fault for the accident. Specifically, coverage from a PIP policy is guaranteed with very little red tape thereby giving the individual who was injured in an accident the opportunity to seek "reasonable and necessary" medical treatment in a timely fashion.

The unfortunate fact of the matter is that PIP policies in Utah typically tend to have a maximum value of $3,000.00 for medical benefits unless you have specifically increased those limits. In comparison to potential medical expenses, this policy could be exhausted in the early phase of treatment. What many people do not know is that they can usually double or even triple the amount of the medical benefit available under their PIP policy relatively inexpensively.

I recommend you contact your insurance company and inquire as to the cost associated with increasing the limits of your PIP policy. You may be surprised at what you learn.