Todd J. Herman, P.A.

Personal Injury
Protection (PIP)

Personal Injury Protection is a type of insurance coverage on your automobile policy that pays up to $10,000.00 of your medical bills for treatment related to a car accident, regardless of whether you caused the accident. If you have an automobile insurance policy, you pay for PIP coverage.

Understanding the Law

It is important to have an attorney who fully understands Florida’s PIP laws. Reason being, your first $10,000.00 of medical bills should be paid through your PIP insurance coverage regardless of whether you have health insurance and regardless of who is at fault.

What is Personal Injury Protection (PIP) in Auto Insurance?

Before you can understand personal injury protection, you need to know the difference between tort and no-fault recovery. In states that follow a tort-based system, the person who causes a motor vehicle accident is primarily responsible for paying for your injury-related expenses and vehicle repair costs. Conversely, in no-fault states (Florida), each person’s insurance coverage is primary, particularly when it comes to paying for medical and hospital expenses. This means that your policy will pay for your injuries first and the at-fault driver’s liability coverage will kick in after your limits have been exhausted.

In Florida, your PIP coverage applies to emergency transport, hospital, and medical costs you incur because of an automobile accident.

In a tort-based system, insurance adjusters must determine who caused an accident before approving payment for PIP claims. To make matters worse, some tort states use comparative negligence systems to determine partial fault. If an adjuster believes you are partially at fault for an accident, the insurance company might delay payment of your claim until specialists conduct additional investigation. In some cases, this even involves depositions and court trials.

Automobile insurance carriers are responsible for paying 80% of reasonable, related and medically necessary bills incurred by the medical provider for medical services rendered to their patients. When an automobile insurer breaches its obligation to pay a valid PIP claim, a PIP lawsuit may be filed by an attorney on behalf of an injury victim or medical provider against an insurance company that provides personal injury protection benefits. The Law Office of Todd J. Herman, P.A. will file a PIP lawsuit against the insurer at no cost to our clients. The filing of a lawsuit to recover some or all of the $10,000.00 in PIP benefits owed to our clients is essential because the less money our clients owe towards their medical bills, the more money our clients will get in their pockets if there is a personal injury settlement.