Don’t Forget Your Own Med Pay Coverage
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We have written in previous newsletters about the importance of medical payment insurance coverage which is available as part of a car owner’s liability policy. This insurance is commonly known as “med pay” insurance. Unlike liability insurance, which all car owners are required by law to carry, med pay is optional. This med pay protection is inexpensive and every car owner should have it up to the full limits available. This insurance provides that all medical bills incurred as a result of a collision will be paid to all occupants of the insured’s car up to the limit of the med pay insurance. This is true regardless of whoever was at fault in causing the collision.
One very important feature of this insurance is that all named insureds on a liability insurance policy will be covered even if they are riding in a car other than the insured’s car. This feature is very beneficial when the car in which the injured person is riding is not covered by med pay insurance. In that case you can still receive med pay insurance from your own policy if you are a named insured.
The med pay coverage is considered secondary which means that you must first collect from the med pay provision of the insured’s car in which your were riding. However, after collecting the full amount of the primary insurance, you can recover for all the remaining medical bills up to the limit of your own policy. Of course, if the car in which you are riding does not have med pay insurance, then you can collect from your own med pay insurance if you are a named insured.
For instance, if you are injured in a car that has no med pay insurance and you have med pay insurance on your own policy in the amount of $2,000 and your medical bills are $4,000, you can recover $2,000 from your own insurance company. If, on the other hand, the car in which you were riding has $2,000 in med pay insurance and your medical bills are $4,000, you can receive $2,000 med pay insurance from the policy that covered the car you were riding in at the time of the collision and then you can collect the balance of your bills ($2,000) from your own insurance company, provided you have med pay coverage in an amount of at least $4,000.00.
The injured party often overlooks this additional insurance and the insurance adjuster will rarely make you aware of this additional protection.
If you are injured in a collision be sure to check all of your insurance policies to be sure to collect the full amount to which you are entitled.