If you're injured in a car accident, your own insurance company will pay your medical bills and reimburse you for your lost wages even if the other driver caused the accident. Your medical bills and wages will be paid under the PIP (personal injury protection) coverage of your car insurance policy.

Keep in mind that the rules are completely different when it comes to choosing a doctor. You don't have to go through your primary care doctor like you would if your health insurance company were paying the bills.

Your insurance company is required to pay for medical bills and lost wages for up to 2 years from the date of the accident, or until they have paid (exhausted) your total PIP coverage, whichever happens first. Let's look at the following example. The minimum PIP coverage you can have in Delaware is $15,000.00. If that's the amount of your coverage, and if you have a lot of medical bills and you're unable to work, chances are you'll "eat up" the $15,000.00 long before the end of 2 years. When you anticipate a lot of lost wages, it might make sense to have your doctors submit their bills to your health insurance company from day 1, which means you'll have that much more of your PIP benefits available to reimburse you for lost wages.

If you would like more information about how to make the best use of your PIP benefits, contact us online or call (302) 239-1140.