PIP vs. Med Pay on your insurance

[BMFR6]

Been a little behind schedule, but at the request of a couple members finally a post regarding PIP and Med Pay on your insurance and what you need to consider between the coverage you have on your car and what you have on your bike(s). To try and keep this short, I did do some copy/pasting.

PIP: Personal Injury Protection. It is compulsory in MA to have $8k of PIP coverage on your policy; car and bike. It’s basically $8k for you, anyone that drives your car, any passengers you have in the car, anyone living in your household and any pedestrians you may injure in an accident. Fault for the accident does not matter. The $8k covers medical expenses, replacement services and up to 75% of lost wages. When it comes to PIP and health insurance, the coverage pays for medical expenses that your health insurance won’t (cosmetic or dental type expenses including prosthetics).
As long as you have an auto policy, PIP will cover you if you are hit as a pedestrian by someone that does not have insurance.

PIP will not cover you on your bike. It does not matter if the bike is parked, not running and has 10 disc locks on front and back, if you have a leg over the bike you are not covered by PIP. You are required to have PIP however; this is in case your bike injures a pedestrian.

Medical Payments: Covers medical and dental expenses over and above the amounts covered by PIP and your health insurance. Will also cover your health insurance deductible. Medical payments will apply on a motorcycle.

So what does this mean? It means you want to make sure you have medical payments coverage on your motorcycle. If you’re involved in an accident in which you are at fault, or it is an accident that does not involve another party (hit a guardrail, hit an animal, crash into a ditch, etc.), your med pay coverage is there to pick up your medical related expenses that your health insurance won’t cover.

I know there are some members on here that have had firsthand experience in these situations, hopefully they will post some of their real life lessons learned on how inadequate health insurance can be when it is a motor vehicle accident. If you’ve gone to an emergency room before, you know one of the first things they ask is if your injuries are work related or the result of a motor vehicle accident, that question is directly related to insurance and how your bills are going to be paid.

[BMFR6]

If any part of the above post is confusing, if you have questions or if you just want to see if you're getting screwed with your current policy, just let me know. If you guys have questions on other parts of your policies, home, auto, tenants, umbrellas, life..... just let me know and I'll put together some info/explanations for you.

[imkindafkedup]

I was one of the many that didn't realize a motorcyclist wasn't covered under PIP even though you think you're paying for it in your auto policy. Luckily, I had regular health insurance that made the bills more affordable and 2 years later I was able to settle in a suit to get those expenses and lost wages covered. It was definitely a surprise to hear at first that you were not entitled to the $8000 you thought you were covered for.

[Sheppo]

I was one of the many that didn't realize a motorcyclist wasn't covered under PIP even though you think you're paying for it in your auto policy. Luckily, I had regular health insurance that made the bills more affordable and 2 years later I was able to settle in a suit to get those expenses and lost wages covered. It was definitely a surprise to hear at first that you were not entitled to the $8000 you thought you were covered for.

I was also a little shocked. Luckily the person that pulled out in front of me claimed full resposibility and his insurance is seemingly stepping up to the plate. We report back when I am all set and done.

[BMFR6]

I was one of the many that didn't realize a motorcyclist wasn't covered under PIP even though you think you're paying for it in your auto policy. Luckily, I had regular health insurance that made the bills more affordable and 2 years later I was able to settle in a suit to get those expenses and lost wages covered. It was definitely a surprise to hear at first that you were not entitled to the $8000 you thought you were covered for.

Don't be too hard on yourself. Most people, including a lot of insurance agents, don't understand that coverages are applied different on a bike than they are on a car. What works on one, may not necessarily work on the other.

[Manny]

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When does health insurance not cover?

[gregp]

If you’ve gone to an emergency room before, you know one of the first things they ask is if your injuries are work related or the result of a motor vehicle accident, that question is directly related to insurance and how your bills are going to be paid.

..Which is why I always answer "Mountain Bike", instead of "Dirt Bike". There is a *huge* difference in 1) The way the bills are handled, and 2) The quality of care (and sympathy) you will receive.
Injuries incurred on an uninsured/unregistered (street) dirt bike can/will leave you out in the cold, coverage-wise. As a 50 year old male, who has been riding in the dirt for 45 years, I can tell you that it wasn't always this way, but it is now.

[BMFR6]

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When does health insurance not cover?

Everyone's health insurance will be a little different so its impossible to say 100% of the time when and what they wont cover. Cosmetic damage, prosthetics, ambulance rides are some of the more common expenses you may be left on the hook for. Also keep in mind your policy will cover funeral expenses as well as dental expenses. Lastly your policy covers people in your vehicle, this can help prevent lawsuits from a passenger that is injured and doesn't have health insurance.

[fjrrider RI]

So you have to be a friggen accountant to understand something your life depends on - nice
I just found out that there is special coverage in RI that will settle a hospital bill if you don't have the bucks, but they don't tell you about it - cause the hospital has to pick up your bill, instead they just send it to collections and ruin your credit and your life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh thank you for the detailed insurance information I read it and may just understand.

[BMFR6]

So you have to be a friggen accountant to understand something your life depends on - nice

Oh thank you for the detailed insurance information I read it and may just understand.

Would help to be an accountant if you want to get everything down to the penny, but for most of us just making sure there is some coverage where you need it will suffice. The thing that kills me is that when people try to save money on their insurance they generally strip down some of the most important but least expensive parts of their policy. They strip down liability and leave physical damage because they want to make sure their car is covered. Then they get into an accident and end up paying 10x as much in lawsuits than they ever would have paid to replace their car.

regarding the info I provided, keep in mind it all relates to Mass which is a "no-fault" state. RI could be very different and I won't pretend to know about insurance there.