No-fault – How it Works
NO-FAULT — HOW IT WORKS
Under the “No-Fault Law,” specifically the Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage provided by your policy, medical expenses, loss of income and other miscellaneous expenses will be paid by your own insurance company regardless of who is at fault for the accident. You automatically have no-fault PIP insurance on any car you insure.
WHAT ARE THE NO-FAULT BENEFITS?
- Medical Expenses and Rehabilitation Services: You have at least the minimum limits of $20,000.00. Your no-fault insurance company will pay
- Doctor, hospitalization, chiropractic, prescription and mileage reimbursement to and from medical facilities.
- If you are disabled from work — professional job seeking counselor, education and retraining, if justified and recommended by your doctor.
- Loss of Income and Replacement Services: Minimum policy limits are $20,000.00. Your no-fault insurance company will pay:
- 85% of your loss of gross income to a maximum of $250.00 per week if due to your inability to work (as long as the time off is verified as presented by your doctor) or time missed from work to obtain medical treatment.
- If you are unable to perform housecleaning, snow shoveling, lawn mowing, and other household services, you may be able to recover the value of the services you cannot perform, or to be reimbursed for hiring others to do those things for you. These benefits can be collected if the need is verified by your doctor..
CAN YOU MAKE A CLAIM AGAINST THE OTHER DRIVER?
If the accident is the fault of the other driver, you can make a claim against his insurance company for disability, pain and suffering and other damages if you have any one of the following:
- Over $4,000.00 in medical expenses (this does not include diagnostic tests like x-rays, CT/MRI scans, EMGs).
- 60 days of inability to work or perform substantially all of your normal daily activities; or
- A permanent injury or disfigurement verified by your doctor.
If you are injured by an uninsured motorist or while on a motorcycle, you probably have a claim even if you don’t satisfy any of the three requirements above.
REVIEW YOUR PRESENT AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE
n order to maximize the value of money spent on auto insurance, you should check with your insurance agent and make sure you have your insurance written as follows:
- All cars owned by you or any family member should have insurance policies written with the same NAMED INSURED for each car.
- STACKING (combining the insurance coverage on all cars): You should choose stacking of all of the vehicles in your household. Check the appropriate box on any application form. This will allow you to multiply the amount of your no-fault benefits by the number of cars in your family.
- Bodily injury/liability, these limits cover you if you or a family member causes injury in a car crash. It is important to maintain enough coverage to protect your assets. Most people should have at least 100,000/300,000 policy limits or more if they have substantial assets that could not be protected in case of a serious injury. A discussion should be had with your insurance agent as to proper levels of protection. Additional coverage is remarkably cheaper as the limits increase.
- UNINSURED AND UNDERINSURED COVERAGE: You should carry a minimum of $100,000.00 of uninsured motorist and underinsured motorist coverage. These coverages are inexpensive and protect you and your family members. If your uninsured/underinsured limits are lower than your liability limits, you are shortchanging yourself. Liability limits provide money for other people to recover from you; uninsured/underinsured protects you and your family members when they have been injured.
Do I NEED TO KEEP THE SAME INSURANCE COMPANY? – many people wonder if they have to keep the same car insurance company while their personal injury claim is ongoing. The answer is no. You may change auto insurance companies any time after a crash and it will not affect the insurance companies responsibilities to pay your benefits for the crash you were in.