Larry Kimmel discusses Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits and the coverage available in Delaware.
Transcription:
Hi my name is Larry Kimmel. I'm the managing partner at Kimmel Carter. We're a personal injury and workers' compensation firm in the state of Delaware. Today I'm going to be talking about PIP benefits for someone involved in a car accident.
Delaware requires PIP benefits, or Personal Injury Protection (some people refer to it as PIP) to cover all medical bills and lost wages involved in an accident.
The Delaware minimum amount of PIP benefits available is $15,000 per person / $30,000 per accident. That means that if you were in a car involved in an accident, you are entitled to have a minimum of $15,000 covered for your medical bills and lost wages or $30,000 per accident if there is more than one person. If there are more than two people involved in an accident, then everyone in that vehicle may be fighting over the policy limits of $30,000 per accident. You may also choose a higher PIP coverage: $25,000 per person / $50,000 per accident. You could also get $50,000 / $100,000 or $100,000 / $300,000 for personal injury protection benefits.
PIP covers all of your medical bills that are reasonable, necessary, and causally related to an accident. It also covers all of your lost wages, which is usually approximately 80 percent of your gross wages. If you are self-employed, you may be required to provide W-2's and tax returns to show what your gross wages are pre-dating the accident. And PIP will usually cover 80 percent of that. The law is technically net loss of earnings, but generally speaking they'll take out 20 percent for taxes.
PIP also covers substitute services. For example, if you cut your lawn every week in the summertime and you are unable to do that because of your injuries, you'll have a doctor explain you are unable to do that and you'll also submit - with someone else - charges to cut your lawn and you'll be able to get reimbursed for that. Another example may be house cleaning services. So if you can't clean your house, a doctor disables you from doing that or prevents you from doing that. You can claim that as well. PIP covers two years from the date of the accident.
If you have any questions or were involved in a car accident or work accident, please give us a call at Kimmel Carter.
