Here’s something interesting I’d like to share with you. Over the past decade, I have observed that most, if not all of my New Jersey car accident clients had no idea who (or more accurately, whose insurance company) was financially responsible for the medical treatment of the injuries they sustained. There is a common misconception that it is the automobile insurance carrier of the “at fault” driver that is responsible for paying the medical bills. While that is the case in many states, New Jersey operates under a “no fault” system, meaning that who is to blame for causing the accident is irrelevant when determining which insurance company must pay for one’s medical treatment.
Personal Injury Protection or PIP Benefits
Your automobile insurance has something called Personal Injury Protection or PIP Benefits. So if you were injured in an accident, regardless of fault, your medical treatment would be paid for by your own automobile insurance carrier’s PIP Benefits. Another way to look at it is that the PIP Benefits follow the person, and not the vehicle. Take this example: let’s say you are in an automobile accident, but as a passenger in a friend’s car; again it is your own automobile insurance policy’s PIP coverage that pays for your medical treatment.
What if, in the passenger example, you did not have automobile insurance? Well, the law in New Jersey requires that the injured person next turn to any “insured resident relative” who must provide the PIP benefits to you. If neither you nor a “resident relative” insure a motor vehicle, then you would look to the “host” vehicle’s insurance policy (the owner of the vehicle you were in at the time of your injury) for PIP benefits.
I have spent more than a decade battling auto insurance companies
As a NJ accident lawyer I’ve have spent more than a decade battling auto insurance companies on behalf of those injured in car accidents. I also represent pain management physicians, neurologists, chiropractors, psychiatrist’s, ambulatory surgery centers and diagnostic testing facilities against New Jersey auto insurance carriers in seeking reimbursement for medical bills that were improperly denied or deficiently reimbursed. When seriously injured in an auto accident it is critical that you retain an attorney with knowledge and direct experience in taking on the auto insurance companies who will likely prematurely cut off your medical treatment regardless of how you feel.
The fact that you have been a loyal customer of that insurance company will not mean anything to the adjuster’s handling your medical claims. You are now considered a “liability” and you will likely find that your relationship has now become adversarial. Instead of innocently relying on your company to help you, you must arm yourself with a tested people’s warrior.
The Grossman Law Firm, LLC provides compassion for our clients while protecting you from the maximization of corporate profit driven interests of the insurance industry. Don’t let the auto insurance company responsible to pay for your auto accident related medical treatment unfairly deny, deny or underpay your medical bills. Call us immediately to begin protecting you and your family’s rights.