What is the Cost of Personal Injury Insurance?

Personal injury protection is a specific form of insurance that covers damages when you're hurt in a vehicle accident. Examples include lost wages and medical bills, both of which can add up quickly. For an accident victim, making sure that insurance pays can be critical for giving you the time and focus to heal and get better after a devastating accident. 

In most states, PIP coverage is optional. However, there are 16 states across the country that have strict PIP minimums. This can be essential for helping overlap with your MedPay or health insurance, but multiple policies might even be recommended. Personal injury protection might also be referred to by insurance experts as no-fault insurance. This extends to those instances in which you are hit as a pedestrian, a cyclist, or as a passenger in another person's car.

This is different from bodily injury liability insurance. Liability insurance, for example, covers the passenger and driver medical expenses when you're found at fault for causing a car wreck. 

Bodily PIP coverage, however, pays for your own expenses when you are in an accident. There might be overlap with coverage provided by your medpay plan or health insurance policy. 

But PIP coverage is created and drafted for car-related injuries. Certain health insurance policies exclude car accident injuries from coverage, meaning that PIP insurance can help to cover the gap and help you when you need it most. While PIP is required in some places, it's optional in others, and those who live in optional states might choose this protection as some additional peace of mind within a comprehensive coverage plan. 

When you've started your research to determine the personal injury insurance costs, think carefully about what you might have to pay out of pocket if you didn't have PIP protection. The types of expenses will vary from one policy and state to another, but can include hospitalization, lost wages, accidental death benefits, funeral expenses, operations, and certain home care expenses. 

If PIP coverage is required in your state, you have to file a claim under that policy before you can go to your health insurance. PIP insurance also offers many different benefits that you can't get through your health insurance policy. So even if it's not required in your state, it might be your first line of defense.

If you've been injured by another driver and have a car insurance policy that includes PIP coverage, you would usually exhaust all of the coverage under your PIP policy first, before turning to other options. If the medical costs associated with treating your injury are beyond your policy's limits, you would be able to open a claim under the other driver's liability insurance policy. 

If your medical bills exceed a tort threshold by your state, or if you have been permanently insignificantly injured, there are circumstances in which you can bypass your PIP coverage and file a lawsuit against the other driver. In these complex situations it makes a lot of sense to have the support of an experienced personal injury lawyer. You don't want to be asking the question “how much does personal injury insurance cost?” after the fact when you're the one receiving all the medical bills for an accident you didn't cause.

Car insurance with personal injury protection can cost anywhere from $50 a month up to a couple of hundred dollars. This will depend on a couple of different factors, including the model and make of your vehicle, the total amount of coverage received, and your age. Proper protection can be provided by having a good personal injury protection service, even when you have good health insurance as well.

Of course, there are multiple insurers you can work with to find the coverage and deductibles most appropriate for you. While no one ever wants to have to turn to their insurance in the wake of an auto accident, having this protection in place can help you and even your family members during a challenging time in your life.

The states that require PIP protection each have their own minimum amounts that must be included on the coverage. 

This includes: 

• $3,000 in Utah 
• $4500 in Kansas
• $5,000 in Pennsylvania
• $8,000 in Massachusetts 
• $10,000 in Florida and Hawaii 
• $15,000 in Oregon, New Jersey, and Delaware 
• $30,000 in North Dakota 
• $40,000 in Minnesota 
• $50,000 in New York

On average, PIP coverage increases premiums for car insurance coverage by about $4 per year. It's not worth the risk of going uninsured with collision coverage and PIP. Many popular auto insurance policy companies like Allstate and USAA offer PIP coverage, so make sure you know your state's minimums or suggested amounts before placing a call to your intended or current insurance carrier.

Personal liability and personal injury protection are not the same type of insurance. 

Personal liability coverage helps protect you in the event that another party gets injured on your property and files a lawsuit against you. It is covered in the vast majority of homeowners insurance policies. Personal liability insurance covers the cost of a lawsuit. If you have been sued by someone else or for destroying someone's property. Most residential insurance policies will include this clause, but it can also be purchased as a standalone. There are a couple of different situations in which it might make sense for you to have personal liability coverage, including:

• Property damage, such as a tree that is located on your property, falling over during a storm and damages your neighbor's roof.
• Bodily injury, such as those conditions caused by a dog bite on your property.

Homeowners insurance coverage typically extends to personal injuries as long as you have personal liability on the policy. Not every injury, however, will be covered by your personal liability insurance. The only ones that are covered by your insurance company are those caused by negligence on your part. 

Although it can be overwhelming to find yourself in this situation, the support of an experienced personal injury lawyer can help you navigate the specifics of a personal injury insurance claim. If you have attempted to contact your personal injury insurance company, and they have refused to communicate with you or are giving you unreasonable delays or denials in your case, you need to be prepared to share this information with your personal injury attorney. 

An injury attorney can take these circumstances seriously and use this to open a claim on your behalf or to create a strategy for taking your case to court.

If you or a loved one has been injured and you want to explore your options, complete a free, no-risk case evaluation to get more information.

After a serious accident, you should turn to PIP coverage first to cover your payments for necessary treatments. But if you are suffering from a catastrophic injury, it's possible that the extent of your injuries goes well beyond PIP payment. In these situations, your lawyer will help you evaluate filing a claim against the at-fault driver's insurance company or open a civil lawsuit.

PIP is a form of no-fault insurance, meaning that you should not have higher rates immediately after an accident because you filed a claim. However, insurance companies do evaluate many factors when deciding the rates to present to you when you're renewing your policy. You might want to evaluate other insurance carriers at that time to make sure you can't get a better deal if you already have one or two PIP claims on your record.

PIP insurance is available to a person due to injuries sustained in an auto accident. This means that even if you were a passenger inside the car that you can still file a claim for PIP payments. The same is true if you get hurt while walking or on a bike when struck by a car.