Personal Injury Protection (PIP)

PERSONAL INJURY PROTECTION (PIP)
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Welcome to our office. This has been prepared for informational purposes to assist you in understanding what to expect with respect to the handling of the Personal Injury Protection Claim for your accident. You will need to provide to our office a copy of your auto insurance policy so that we may verify your coverage.

1. Personal Injury Protection (PIP) - Unless you have chosen a deductible there is $8,000.00 of insurance coverage on your auto policy which covers the following three items:
   1. Reasonable and necessary medical bills related to your auto accident. Once the PIP insurance company pays out $2,000.00, your medical bills must be submitted to your health insurance carrier. Should your health insurance require a deductible or only pay a portion of the bill, then the bill and the explanation of benefits from the health insurance carrier is submitted to the PIP carrier for their consideration. If your heath insurance is and HMO plan, then you must follow the plan requirements and see your primary care physician for referrals. If you do not have health insurance, the PIP carrier continues to pay your bills up to the $8,000 coverage limit. Keep in mind that PIP only covers bills for 2 years from the date of the accident.
      
   2. Lost wages - PIP will pay 75% of your average weekly wage which is based on the previous 52 weeks. This requires the following: Doctor's disability slip, wage verification from your current employers and past employers, income tax/W-2 forms, information on any wage continuation plan (such as short term disability plans) and verification from the employer of the actual time lost. We obtain this information and submit it to the insurance company but they often do their own investigation before issuing payment. Please remember to get disability slips from your doctor and get copies to us. If you receive any disability payments or sick time from your employer, that will be deducted from the PIP payment.
      
   3. Replacement services - If you have to hire someone to do some of your personal duties due to a disability related to your auto accident, you may be able to get reimbursement from the PIP company. Example of this would be house cleaning, yard work, snow shoveling. You would need to provide the following:
      1. Doctor's note/disability slip specifically stating you cannot do that activity.
      2. The name, address, social security number for the person you hire.
      3. A statement/bill identifying the work done, dates of service, time involved and amount paid.
      4. Cancelled check or paid receipt.

As always, if you have any questions regarding the information or your claim, please let us know.

Printer Friendly View
Add To Favorites
Send To A Friend