Personal Injury Protection Explained | Bellevue Auto Accident Attorney

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Recently I was contacted by someone who had been involved in a Seattle car accident that was not their fault. They had full insurance coverage on their car, including personal injury protection (PIP). They said:

“I don’t want to use my Personal Injury Protection insurance (PIP) to pay my medical bills because I don’t want to my insurance rates to increase!”

As a Kent car accident lawyer and Bellevue motorcycle accident attorney, I hear my clients make the above statement a lot. This is a common misconception that car accident victims have, and sadly, if they are not receiving proper advice from a lawyer they may deny themselves some very useful coverage.

What Is Pip? And Why Should I Have it?

PIP or Personal Injury Protection is an optional auto insurance coverage which pays your medical bills and loss of wages in the event of a car accident. I suggest to all my friends and family that they purchase the maximum level of PIP insurance as it is inexpensive and can save them from financial ruin in the event of an auto accident.

PIP is so inexpensive that insurance carriers charge as little as $7.00 a month for $1,000,000 dollars of coverage- meaning they will cover up to $1,000,000 of your medical bills and loss of benefits if you are hit by another driver. Sadly, many people refuse this coverage and of those that are covered many refuse to use it out of fear of a rate increase.

How Do I Know My Rates Won’t Increase If I Use PIP?

According to Washington State Insurance Law, insurance companies cannot raise insurance rates unless the claimant was at fault in the car accident. In fact, if an insurance company accidently raises your rates when you are not at fault it is considered a gross misdemeanor– and if they raise your rates intentionally it is a class c felony, punishable by law.

RCW 46.52.130 states:

“no policy of insurance may be canceled, non-renewed, denied, or have the rate increased on the basis of such information unless the policy holder was determined to be at fault”

This law applies to PIP as well as under-insured and uninsured motorist protection. So if you are the victim of an auto accident there is no reason to not make a claim against your PIP and UM/UIM benefits, in fact, it is more beneficial to do so.

PIP is there to cover your medical bills while your case is being settled- but what happens when you receive your settlements?

A portion of your PIP payments will have to be reimbursed to the insurance company once your case settles- this is called subrogation. You do not, however, have to repay the full amount, which actually leaves you in a better financial position that if you did not have PIP coverage. When your case settles you will only be required to repay a portion of the expenses while if you did not have PIP you would have to pay for all of your medical bills with your settlement. Having an aggressive lawyer comes in handy when it comes to time to pay back your PIP as there are strategies for reducing the subrogation interest and even eliminating it.

For more information on PIP insurance click on the preceding link.