Kentucky PIP Coverage is available to Non-Car Owners in Auto Accident?
If you are injured in a car, motorcycle or truck accident and you do not own a car or live with a resident relative that does, you are entitled to Kentucky PIP coverage in most instances. PIP coverage is available to you even though you did not pay for it.
What is Kentucky PIP Coverage?
What is Kentucky PIP coverage (also called “no-fault benefits”) and why are they so important? Kentucky PIP benefits provide $10,000.00 of insurance to pay for medical expenses, lost wages and other expenses. Many people injured in accidents are unable to work due to their injuries and they need the lost wage benefit provided by PIP. Most people will have health insurance to pay for their medical expenses, but they will have no source of replacing the wages lost due to time off work. Although Kentucky PIP does not provide full replacement of wages ($200 per week limit unless you buy extra coverage), it can provide $800.00 a month, which can allow people to survive financially while they recover from their injuries.
Additionally, no-fault insurance pays for medical expenses and many people need this to help pay for their medical expenses. There are some medical providers, like many chiropractors, that will not accept health insurance because it pays only a portion of their bills. The medical expense benefit can also be used to pay health insurance liens, which increases the net settlement for personal injury claims.
A final important reason to have PIP is because it extends the statute of limitations for a personal injury claims in Kentucky. If the accident victim has access to PIP, then his or her statute of limitations is 2 years from the date of the last PIP payment. Otherwise, it is one-year. This can be critical if the injured party has not recovered from their injuries quickly or they delay in hiring a lawyer. Their claim may expire without them even realizing it.
Kentucky Assigned Claims Plan Provides PIP Coverage to Non-Vehicle Owners.
If you are injured in an auto accident and you occupied a vehicle that has insurance, then you will be entitled to Kentucky PIP from the vehicle you occupied. If you do not own a vehicle and do not live with a relative that owns a vehicle, then the Kentucky Assigned Claims Plan will provide Kentucky PIP coverage to you through a local insurance company if the vehicle you occupied at the time of the accident was uninsured. The Assigned Claims Plan will not provide this coverage to the owner of a vehicle because it was that person’s responsibility to obtain the PIP coverage before being allowed to drive on the Kentucky roadways. Additionally, the assigned claims plan will not provide this coverage if the injured person has commercial health insurance. This exclusion does not apply to Medicaid and Medicare coverages.
To better explain when the Kentucky Assigned Claims Plan will provide PIP coverage to you, consider this example. Joe is a passenger in an uninsured vehicle at the time he is injured in an auto accident and Joe does not own his own vehicle or live with a relative that does or have commercial health insurance; he will be entitled to PIP coverage through the Assigned Claims Plan. If Joe has title to a vehicle, even if it is not drivable, he is excluded from coverage under this plan because every owner of a vehicle must insure it under Kentucky law. The purpose of the Assigned Claims Plan is to provide PIP coverage to those people who did not have the opportunity to purchase it or have access to it through a resident relative.
Contact Kentucky Auto Accident Attorney Matthew Troutman
A determination of whether you are entitled to Kentucky PIP coverage through the Assigned Claims Plan will require the services of an experienced Kentucky auto accident attorney to investigate the cause of the accident and maximize all benefits available to the victims and their families. Matthew Troutman, a Kentucky auto accident lawyer, of the Troutman Law Office has been handling auto accident claims, almost exclusively, since 1986 and has the experience and talent to obtain the best result for the victims in the above car accident.
If you need legal assistance due to a motor vehicle accident, contact Kentucky auto accident attorney Matthew Troutman directly at 859-696-0001 or 502-648-9507 and he will meet with you in the hospital, your home or wherever is convenient for you. He will give you direct access through his cell phone and guide you through the difficult process necessary to obtain the best result possible for you in your car accident claim. To learn more about Kentucky car accident attorney Matthew Troutman and the Troutman Law Office, click here.