NJ Auto insurance policy question. In NJ, we have to select whether the auto insurance company or the health?
insurance company is responsible for our medical expenses in the event we are injured in a car accident. What are the pros and cons of each choice?
NJ is a PIP state so your insurance will not increase for injury claims in a not at fault accident. So, that is not an issue. If you request that your auto insurance is primary, there IS a deductible and copayment and the PIP medical expense coverage is limited to $250,000 (at least that is what it used to be, I don’t think it has changed recently). The premium savings to make your health insurance primary used to be in the neighborhood of $20 per year, not worth it. You would have to ask your agent for a quote.
You can still always go to your health insurance if you use your PIP up & need more coverage.
The problem with health insurance being primary is that most health insurance policies have a lifetime maximum benefit (used to be $1,000,000 & I some are $2,000,000). The PIP coverage is per accident with no lifetime maximum, so technically, you can have several accidents over the years, use you maximum PIP benefit & it will still be there for the next accident. If you had used your health insurance, every accident decreases the lifetime maximum. What if you had a serious accident & then a serious disease? You may run out of health insurance.
I personally would leave your auto accident related medical with auto insurance as primary & save your health insurance for other accidents (falling, stitches, etc) and disease.
Also, medicare & medicaid may not allow you to use them as primary in an auto accident, you would have to check with them if you were considering this.
July 19th, 2010 at 12:22 am
Well, you absolutely need to be sure your HEALTH carrier agrees to paying for the auto related injuries. If they do, you’re better off letting the health carrier pay, however, any services are going to be subject to copays and deductibles of your health plan
For the auto policy, there are no copays or deductibles, but there’s a LIMIT of medical payments (check and see that your health carrier will pick up after the limit is reached – that’s important, too!), and any claims put in, are potentially surchargable, and can raise your rates.
Discuss this in detail with YOUR AGENT, who can help you make the decision.
References :
agent, 21+ years
July 19th, 2010 at 12:46 am
NJ is a PIP state so your insurance will not increase for injury claims in a not at fault accident. So, that is not an issue. If you request that your auto insurance is primary, there IS a deductible and copayment and the PIP medical expense coverage is limited to $250,000 (at least that is what it used to be, I don’t think it has changed recently). The premium savings to make your health insurance primary used to be in the neighborhood of $20 per year, not worth it. You would have to ask your agent for a quote.
You can still always go to your health insurance if you use your PIP up & need more coverage.
The problem with health insurance being primary is that most health insurance policies have a lifetime maximum benefit (used to be $1,000,000 & I some are $2,000,000). The PIP coverage is per accident with no lifetime maximum, so technically, you can have several accidents over the years, use you maximum PIP benefit & it will still be there for the next accident. If you had used your health insurance, every accident decreases the lifetime maximum. What if you had a serious accident & then a serious disease? You may run out of health insurance.
I personally would leave your auto accident related medical with auto insurance as primary & save your health insurance for other accidents (falling, stitches, etc) and disease.
Also, medicare & medicaid may not allow you to use them as primary in an auto accident, you would have to check with them if you were considering this.
References :
Former NJ Insurance agent