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Rathbun Insurance Blog

All You Ever Wanted to Know About Insurance

What is Personal Injury Protection Coverage?

Whether you’ve lived in Michigan your entire life or are new to our state, everyone knows auto insurance here is expensive. Michigan is the only state in the country in which you have the option of purchasing unlimited Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage.

What is PIP? This coverage pays allowable expenses for your care, recovery, rehabilitation, wage loss and replacement services. PIP coverage also includes some funeral expense benefits and survivors benefits which are paid to your dependents if injuries from an auto accident result in your death. It is important to remember that PIP benefits are paid regardless of fault.

As a result of no-fault reform in July 2020, drivers got the option of several different PIP limits on their policies. Instead of only being able to purchase unlimited PIP, drivers had the option of selecting limits fo $500,000, $250,000 or to opt out completely.

In addition to selecting a limit for your Personal Injury Protection limit, you have the option of coordinating your own health insurance with your auto policy. In order to coordinate your coverage, and have your health insurance policy pay first, you must carry Qualified Health Coverage. In this case, your auto policies PIP coverage would pay for covered losses that are not covered, or exhausted, on your primary health coverage.

Let’s say you get in an auto accident and your health insurance is coordinated to pay primary in the event of a loss. You break your leg and arm and need multiple surgeries to fix the damage. The doctor tells you it will be $650,000 for your care. If your health insurance provided $100,000 in medical benefits for auto accidents, that leaves you with $550,000 in remaining bills. Your auto policies PIP coverage would now kick in - up to the policy limits. If you had selected a $250,000 PIP limit, you would be responsible for the remaining $300,000 in medical bills out of pocket.

 Auto accidents alone are stressful and the stress can be compounded when you do not have the proper coverage, We would be more than happy to assist you in finding the plan that best fits your needs.