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Category: Articles » Finance » Insurance » Article » Article Code

What is Personal Injury Protection and Why Do I Need It?

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Purchasing an insurance policy is a real headache to almost everyone. It is 
invariably a very expensive item in the family budget. But it can be extremely 
costly in other ways; for instance, if the policy you bought does not cover what 
you thought it did.
Let's look at the main types of cover and try to throw a little light on the 
subject.
The best automobile insurance policies should include the following items: 
uninsured motorist coverage, collision coverage, personal property liability, 
bodily injury liability, comprehensive coverage and personal injury protection 
(PIP). Some of these elements are an imperative in the state while others are an 
option. Collision coverage pays for damages to a car or other vehicle when it is 
in collision with another car or other vehicle or non-vehicular object, even if 
the policyholder is at fault. Comprehensive insurance policies protect the 
policyholder in the unfortunate situation that their car or other vehicle is 
stolen, damaged or destroyed by malicious individuals, harmed by an act of 
nature or otherwise damaged. Both of these kinds of insurance are always 
optional and extremely costly.
Bodily injury and personal property liabilities are mandatory by all the 
states in the U.S.A in in some form. The states differ greatly, however, in the 
required minimum guaranteed payout. In the state of Alaska, for example, a 
driver is required to carry coverage that has a guaranteed minimum bodily injury 
payout of $100,000. But in Florida, a driver is only required to carry coverage 
worth $10,000.
Some parts of an auto insurance policy that could be optional are cover for 
the uninsured motorist and personal injury protection. The coverage for the 
uninsured motorist protects the policyholder in case he or she has an accident 
with somebody without insurance cover. It provides the insurance policies that 
should possibly have been supplied by the other person. If an accident should 
occur, personal injury protection pays for the medical expenses and other 
miscellaneous damages incurred by the policyholder and their passengers (or if 
the policyholder is an injured pedestrian). Carrying PIP is mandatory in: 
Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, 
Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oregon and Utah.
Even if PIP is an option in your state, you may still want to contemplate 
purchasing the insurance policies. If an accident should occur, personal injury 
protection will pay around 80% (depending on insurance policies limits) of the 
costs of the policyholder and passengers. These costs include medical bills, 
lost wages and other miscellaneous expenses. PIP is a no-fault policy, so it 
will cover you and your passengers, even if the reason for claim was your fault.
PIP, sometimes referred to as Medical Payment Insurance or Medpay, is a 
no-fault insurance policies for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the fact that 
blame does not have to be determined saves time and therefore allows medical 
payments to get into the pockets of the injured parties as quickly as possible.
Secondly, it saves everybody from the cost of lawsuits being filed to prove 
responsibility for an accident and therefore who has responsibility for the 
bills. One time a PIP policy might allow for a lawsuit is if there is death or 
serious injury.
Before you purchase PIP, you would be wise to sort through your current 
policies and determine whether or not the insurance policies offered by PIP is 
duplicated anyplace else. As an example{/c] the cost of medical bills and lost 
wages may be recovered through existing health insurance cover. If this is the 
case, then you may need minimal PIP or none at all. Your driving skills or lack 
of them, will also help determine whether or not you need PIP. Do you carry 
passengers on a regular basis? While your health insurance might cover your own 
medical expenses, it won't cover those of your passengers (unless they are 
members of your family who share your health plan). Ask your regular passengers 
about their own health insurance policies and its limitations. If they are 
inadequately covered or not covered at all, you need PIP in order to keep them 
covered. That may not seem like such a fair deal, especially if you're the one 
driving an office car pool, but after all, the safety of any passengers in your 
vehicle is always going to be your responsibility.
If you reside in a state that requires PIP you will need to know the minimum 
amount of cover you must have because this has already been decided for you. If 
you live in a state where PIP is an option however, you might decide that you 
need the extra insurance policies anyway. How much insurance policies you need 
depends, to a large extent, on where you are in life. If you are middle-aged or 
older, have good health and liability insurance policies, then you will need 
minimal PIP insurance policies. On the other hand, if you are a youngster and 
still don't have much in the way of health and liability insurance, you will 
want to protect yourself, your family and your future by carrying as much 
insurance as you can afford. This is especially true if you have young children 
or if you constantly carry others in your car or other vehicle.
So whether you require personal injury protection insurance and at what 
level, is dependant on a number of factors: your personal circumstances, where 
you work and what you do, your health, where you live, your driving habits, and 
your level of existing cover. Regardless of your lifestyle however, you really 
do need to look into it with great care so that you can be secure in the 
knowledge that you are well and truly covered.

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