In Pennsylvania, you get a minimum of $5,000.00 in medical expense coverage and coverage for lost earnings while you are injured are an option that you can either buy or waive. If you buy wage loss coverage, the minimum you can get is $1,000.00 per month for five months. For many people this coverage is given almost no consideration and if they’re in an accident, are surprised by how little they can get while they’re unable to work due to their injuries.
One thousand dollars a month is not a lot of money. It translates into about $5.77/hour in earnings. If you earn more than that and you’re in an accident, your income while you are recuperating from your injuries will not cover what you’re losing from not being able to work. When people are in this position they cannot stay off of work for very long because they start getting behind in their bills. It is therefore wise to get as much coverage as you can for wage loss benefits from your auto insurance carrier.
The state minimum for medical expenses is five thousand dollars. This again may seem like a lot but you need to look at the potential costs of medical treatment. A short trip in a medical helicopter will cost between nine and twelve thousand dollars. An inpatient stay in a hospital can easily run several thousand dollars per day. If your injuries are serious enough to warrant these types of treatment you will exhaust your medical coverage within a few hours or days of the accident. If you have other medical coverage, through your employer for example, then you will use your secondary health insurance carrier.
Doing so can create a problem if you were injured by another person and want to make a claim against that person. Your health insurance carrier may have what is called a right of subrogation. What this means is that the health insurance carrier has a right to get paid back any money that it paid out for medical care related to your injury. Their claim may be primary over yours, meaning they get all of their money before you get anything. After fulfilling your obligation to you health insurance carrier you may not be able to get fair compensation for yourself. For this reason alone it is worth carrying a higher amount of medical coverage in your automobile insurance policy. There is another important reason to carry higher lost earnings and medical benefit coverages on your auto insurance policy. The coverage is cheap. If you compare the cost of $5,000.00 in medical coverage to the cost of a much greater coverage, you will see a relatively cost difference.
Review your insurance policy, see what you have and think about what you need and what your family may need. It is well worth the trouble to protect yourself and your loved ones.
Serious injuries or wrongful death may occur from automobile accidents, truck accidents, boating accidents, slip and fall accidents, dog bites, or other incidents of personal injury. Often, these “accidents” could have been avoided if reasonable preventative measures had been taken. At Palmieri & Matvey, we are a full-service personal injury law firm based in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. We represent victims and their families who are fighting for justice and fair compensation for their injuries from the initial claims with the insurance companies to filing a lawsuit and through trial. For a free consultation, Contact us today. We can discuss what your case could be worth, what the insurance company involved owes you, and whether you do in fact need an attorney to represent you.
Visit my website at http://www.matveylaw.com
From offices in Center Township, Aliquippa, law offices of Palmieri & Matvey, P.C. serves the personal injury and estate administration needs of Western and Southwestern Pennsylvania including the communities of Aliquippa, Center Twp, Beaver, Ambridge, Baden, Beaver Falls, Bridgewater, Chippewa Twp, Conway, Coraopolis, Cranberry Twp, Economy, Ellwood City, Freedom, Harmony, Hopewell, Leetsdale, Midland, Monaca, Moon Twp, New Brighton, New Castle, Patterson Twp, Pittsburgh, Rochester, Shippingport and Vanport; as well as Beaver County, Allegheny County, Washington County, Butler County and Lawrence County and other areas of Western PA.
