Personal Injury Protection (PIP) is a form of auto insurance that protects individuals who are injured in an auto accident.\u00a0 Also known as \u201cno-fault insurance,\u201d PIP is available to policyholders no matter who was at fault in the accident, which means your PIP policy will cover you even when you cause an accident.\u00a0 In addition to covering the driver, PIP also covers everyone else who is in the covered vehicle at the time of the accident.\u00a0 Each passenger can potentially receive the full amount of PIP.<\/p>\n
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While PIP is most commonly used to cover medical bills, it also covers lost wages, funeral costs, and other miscellaneous expenses resulting from injuries sustained in your motor vehicle accident.\u00a0 Such expenses may include childcare, lawn care, cleaning services, or other essential services that you normally do yourself but are made difficult or impossible because of your injuries.\u00a0 As long as the expense is made necessary because of your injuries and is not something you would have paid for regardless (such as a weekly lawn service you use even when not injured), you can usually claim reimbursement using your PIP.<\/p>\n
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Med Pay is an alternative type of coverage similar to PIP but narrower in scope.\u00a0 Like PIP, Med Pay is also considered no-fault insurance, meaning you can utilize it even if you were at fault in the accident.\u00a0 Unlike PIP, Med Pay is limited to covering medical bills or funeral costs and nothing else.\u00a0 Med Pay will not reimburse you for lost wages or other expenses incurred as a result of your injuries.<\/p>\n
Moreover, you often gain no advantage from your Med Pay if you also seek payment from the at-fault driver\u2019s insurance.\u00a0 If you do use your Med Pay coverage to pay for your bills but also receive payment from the at-fault driver\u2019s insurance, your own insurance company can typically take the portion they paid for Med Pay out of your share from the third-party insurance settlement except in some cases when the settlement is insufficient to pay all your bills.\u00a0 Conversely, PIP has no such limitation and can be received in full regardless of a third-party insurance settlement.<\/p>\n
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Some states require all drivers to obtain PIP coverage, although you may elect not to obtain PIP coverage as long as your state does not mandate it.\u00a0 Texas policies include PIP coverage by default but allow you to opt out if you do not want it.\u00a0 If you have a high UM\/UIM policy, you may not require PIP coverage because you and your passengers are likely to be covered in full in case of an accident with an uninsured or underinsured driver.\u00a0 However, PIP can still help because you can use it even when your UM\/UIM is unnecessary or does not apply or when you were at fault for the accident.\u00a0 Additionally, PIP is very good for families or other people who frequently have three or more passengers because each passenger can qualify for up to the full amount of PIP.<\/p>\n
PIP in Texas has several distinct advantages over other types of auto insurance coverage that make it worth considering: (1) it is available in full to all passengers in your vehicle; (2) it is available even if you were at fault in the accident; (3) it is available to you in addition to the at-fault driver\u2019s liability insurance without limitation; (4) it covers a wide range of expenses and lost wages in addition to medical bills; and (5) making a PIP claim usually does not increase your insurance rates like a UM\/UIM or liability claim might.\u00a0 For these reasons, PIP is the most flexible type of insurance to protect you in the event of a wreck, and we recommend for most people to keep the coverage on their policy.<\/p>\n
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PIP coverage in Texas comes in three levels: $2,500, $5,000, or $10,000. \u00a0When selecting the amount, you should pay attention to the amount your premium will increase by for each tier of coverage you select.\u00a0 Oftentimes, selecting a higher value of PIP coverage has a relatively small impact on your rates compared to the lower value.\u00a0 For instance, $2,500 of PIP might cost you $25 per month, but for an extra $10 per month you can double that to $5,000.\u00a0 The jump up to $10,000 might cost just another $10, which means you would quadruple your basic coverage for less than double the cost. \u00a0Thus, it is most efficient to select the highest coverage your policy offers, but the mid-tier rate of $5,000 is a good compromise if you do not want to max it out.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Personal Injury Protection (PIP) is a form of no-fault auto insurance that protects individuals who are injured in an auto accident regardless of who caused the accident. PIP is the generally most flexible type of insurance available and is a beneficial addition to any auto insurance policy.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14638,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[25,26,27],"class_list":["post-13158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal-injury","tag-auto-accidents","tag-christopher-pride","tag-personal-injury","post_format-post-format-image"],"yoast_head":"\n