Personal injury protection, or PIP as it’s commonly referred to, even though not many people know what it means, or what it does, is part of your car insurance policy’s medical coverage. Each state determines what medical coverage your car insurance policy should contain. This coverage generally is addressed by two different sections.

One section is called Medical Payments, or Med Pay. Medical Payment (Med Pay) offers basic, plain-Jane coverage for your medical expenses, and does what the name says: it pays your medical payments only in case of a car accident. This coverage generally pays regardless of who is at fault up to the limit stated on your policy.

Personal Injury Protection, or PIP, is the deluxe version of Medical Payments. Personal Injury Protection coverage pays for your medical expenses on case of a car accident, but also reimburses you for some of your list wages, or replacement services. In other words, it does the same thing but offers some additional benefits at an additional cost. Generally, PIP will cost you a little but more.

Is the extra expense for Medical Payments, or Personal Injury Protection coverage worth it? That answer depends on you, and the laws of the state you live in, but generally, if you have a good major medical health insurance plan, then you should just go with the minimum required by your state laws.

This is part of your car insurance policy where you may be able to save some money, if your medical costs are already addressed by other insurance policies that you already own. Buying the minimum required coverages by your state in your car insurance policies can help you save money on your car insurance.

Your medical and disability costs can be covered more effectively by other insurance policies that you have like major medical health insurance or disability insurance, and therefore, these coverages on your car insurance policy are an unneeded, and expensive redundancy in you car insurance policy. That said, however, if you do not have a good major medical health insurance plan with sufficient protection, or a good disability insurance plan, then these additional coverages in your car insurance policy can be very beneficial.

Some recommendations:

Make sure your major medical health insurance plan offers the protection you need, with adequate life-time policy limits, and no unnecessary limitations. read our article on major medical health insurance plan must-haves to learn what makes a good health insurance plan for you and your family.

As far as auto insurance, the best thing you can do is find a good local agent that can advise you on how well you current policy protects you, and can explain all parts of an auto insurance policy clearly and professionally. I recommend Allstate for several reasons. They have well-trained, professional local agents just about anywhere in the country. The also have a great online presence, and you can access all the information you need online with out having to call or talk to anybody, but they also have great customer service people available, if you do want to speak with somebody. That to me is the best of both worlds.

For those that are at least 50 years old, the AARP in association with The Hartford, has a great program that is especially designed to help older Americans with their specific auto insurance needs. As we grow older out insurance needs change. This program by the AARP is one that focuses on those specific concerns. They have experience with this segment of the market, and could be in a position to offer you the protection that you need at a price that is more convenient to you. They also have local agents available just about anywhere in the country, and they offer great resources online as well, so you can talk to someone if you want to, but everything is available online, as well.

Tags: Auto Insurance, car insurance, Disability insurance, Health Insurance, Insurance, insurance coverage, Insurance policy, Personal Injury Protection, Vehicle insurance

This entry was posted on Monday, April 12th, 2010 at 1:44 AM and is filed under Auto Insurance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.