Personal injury protection (PIP) insurance covers medical expenses, lost wages, and household expenses after a covered driver or his passengers are injured in a car accident. PIP is a versatile type of insurance because it covers both medical bills and indirect costs resulting from injuries sustained in a car accident. PIP stands for personal injury protection and can be used after any accident, regardless of who was at fault. Personal injury protection (PIP), also known as no-fault insurance, covers medical expenses and lost wages for you and your passengers if they are injured in an accident.
PIP coverage protects you regardless of who is at fault. Personal injury protection insurance is mandatory in some states and optional or not offered at all in other states. No-fault insurance has its limits, and consumers should know that this type of coverage is not comprehensive or collision insurance and does not cover vehicle damage, theft, or damage to property that belongs to others. Before becoming an insurance writer, she worked as a legal assistant in the field of personal injury law and as a licensed sales producer at several insurance agencies.
A no-fault insurance status requires drivers to have PIP coverage so that some or all of their medical expenses resulting from a car accident are covered by their own insurance, regardless of who is at fault. For example, if you are injured in a car accident in Michigan, your medical insurance policy could cover your physical injuries and your PIP would cover additional economic losses, such as the wages you lost while you were in the hospital. North Carolina drivers pay less than the national average for full coverage and minimum coverage, despite having busy roads and relatively high minimum insurance requirements. The table below provides a summary of the average annual premium increase for a North Carolina insured with a single speeding, accident, or DUI ticket on their record.
In most car accident cases, PIP insurance acts as the primary coverage and pays for claims before other types of insurance take effect. If you're injured by another driver and have personal injury protection as part of your auto insurance policy, you'll typically exhaust your PIP coverage first before turning to other options. PIP insurance differs from bodily injury liability insurance in the sense that, while PIP coverage covers your own expenses, liability insurance pays for the medical expenses of drivers and passengers of other cars when you're at fault in an accident. However, even if it's not required in your state, PIP insurance offers several benefits that you won't get from a health insurance policy, such as coverage for lost wages and funeral expenses.
All insurance products are governed by the terms of the applicable insurance policy, and all related decisions (such as coverage approval, premiums, fees and charges) and policy obligations are the sole responsibility of the insurance insurer.
