Will PIP Pay Lost Wages?

Question:

If I'm in a vehicle accident, will PIP insurance cover my lost wages?

Answer:

You may be able to receive money from lost wages. However, it’s going to be a significant drop in the amount of money you earn from your job.

PIP does pay lost wages, but they only pay 60% of your lost wages, up to $10,000. This benefit can also be used to pay for someone to do physical work that you can no longer handle, like household chores, lawn mowing, and pet care, for example..

For most people, such a drastic reduction in their wage is going to be less than ideal, but it is better than being unable to work and receiving nothing. The insurance company will consider your income for the thirteen weeks before the accident to determine how much money you’ll receive for that time. You can collect past and future lost wages. 

Even if you end up losing your job, you’ll still be able to claim PIP. In the case of a job loss, however, you may also be eligible for a civil lawsuit. Because of Florida’s no-fault insurance laws, which are designed to make sure drivers receive compensation more quickly after an accident, suing isn’t always possible or recommended. In cases where the accident causes you to lose more than your own insurance policy will pay for – which can be the case if you lose your job entirely – you may be eligible to sue the other driver to cover the losses.

It's possible to get PIP coverage that doesn’t include work loss, but this isn’t recommended for most people because it only diminishes your premium by a small amount and leaves you unprotected if you can’t work after an accident. Check to make sure your PIP insurance covers work loss.

How Does PIP Cover Medical Bills?

Question:

My auto insurance (PIP) cut my doctor's bills way down, and now my doctor says I have to pay the entire unpaid balance. Is this correct?

Answer:

What’s important to understand about PIP insurance is that it doesn’t pay your medical bills entirely. It only pays 80% of your adjusted medical bills.  The PIP insurer will likely adjust the amount of your bills in accordance with a state authorized fee scheduled. So if you have $10,000 of medical bills after they are adjusted, you’ll be left with a $2,000 balance after PIP. Medical payments are also capped at $10,000.  However, if your total medical bills were $15,000, and the insurance company correctly adjusted them to $10,000 under the fee schedule, then you would only owe $2,000, because you only owe the balance of the adjusted bill, not the total, unadjusted, bill.

The way it usually works is that your health insurance kicks in after PIP, so you would only pay anything left after PIP and your health insurer have paid their parts. If you didn’t have private health insurance but were covered under a government health insurance program like Medicare or Medicaid, they would pay all or part of the balance remaining after PIP, depending on your plan.

If you didn’t have any type of health insurance, then you would be responsible for paying the unpaid balance after PIP. You may be able to work out a payment plan with your medical provider or ask for a discount, but you are ultimately the person responsible for the costs.

Conclusion

Florida’s Personal Injury Protection insurance pays both lost wages and medical bills, but doesn’t pay 100% of either and has caps on both. Florida drivers need to understand how these policies work. In the case of lost wages, drivers need to know that the amount they receive adds up to a lot less than they would have gotten for working during that time. However, if they lose their job or otherwise have losses that exceed what PIP will pay for, they may still be eligible to sue the at-fault driver. Meanwhile, PIP also covers only 80% of medical bills, which will still leave them with some portion of their medical expenses to pay. Health insurance may pick this up if the driver has it. Otherwise, they’re responsible for their remaining balances.

Source

• https://www.thelawplace.com/faqs/what-is-the-max-pip-payment/

"The information provided herein is simply a brief overview of the Florida law on this particular matter. It should not be relied upon for legal purposes, as the facts and circumstances to any specific legal matter may vary substantially from the limited explanation and application of often complicated legal rules and principles that may be addressed herein, or applicable in your particular legal matter. You should only rely upon legal advice provided to you by a licensed attorney who has had an opportunity to fully evaluate your particular legal matter".