We talked in our last blog that Personal Injury Protection (PIP), also known as No-Fault, is mandatory on every insured vehicle in New York State. Therefore, No-Fault will pay for your medical treatment regardless of who is at fault for the accident. However, there are limitations. No-Fault is only available up to $50,000 unless additional No-Fault coverage was purchased beyond the statutory minimum.
You may be covered for medical treatment and prescriptions up to the available limit on the No-Fault insurance policy, as long as the treatment is casually related to the car accident. You are also entitled to reimbursement for mileage used to seek medical treatment, however coverage is usually only available for the first year after the accident. In addition, you may be entitled to home assistance after an accident, but coverage is only available for the first year in this instance as well. Also, all home assistance must be necessary and certified by a doctor to qualify for reimbursement.
Most car insurance companies generally require that they receive any medical bills within 45 days of treatment. You must notify your doctor that they need to bill your No-Fault insurance for any treatment related to the car accident. If you have treated with your doctor prior to the car accident, you should verify that the doctor is billing the proper insurance company. Many times a doctor’s office will have a separate billing department and they will bill the insurance company they have on file. And since billing usually takes time, by the time you realize that the doctor's office has billed the wrong insurance company, the 45 days may have passed and the insurance company may deny payment. This ultimately may result in you being responsible for paying the bill out-of-pocket.
You may make a claim against a negligent driver if you suffered damages beyond No-Fault, or if you suffered a serious injury. Please call Bethany Nicoletti, Alicia Loomis, or Patricia Stegemann at Meggesto, Crossett & Valerino, LLP at (315) 471-1664 if you would like to talk to an experienced attorney about an injury you sustained in a motor vehicle accident. We are here to walk you through your legal options, and maximize the compensation that you are awarded for your injury.