A Simple Guide to Kentucky Personal Injury Protection (PIP)

What Kentucky Law Provides

The law regarding Kentucky, a no-fault insurance State, is: 1) the insurance company for the vehicle you are operating, and that you have insured, is required to provide you with medical expense and lost wage insurance, up to $10,000, no matter how the wreck happens; 2) if you are pedestrian at the time of the wreck, including operating a bicycle or a moped, the insurance for the vehicle that comes into contact with your body is the no-fault or PIP carrier; 3) we have no choice but to use your no-fault insurance when pursuing a personal injury claim because in exchange for this right to no-fault coverage, you gave up the legal right to recover the first $10,000 in medical bills, and lost wages. from the at-fault insurance carrier and; 4) if the car wreck happens in Kentucky, 95% of the time you are entitled to no-fault insurance.

How I Use PIP to Help Clients

As a personal injury lawyer, I think Kentucky no-fault insurance is amazing because, unlike most other insurance, it is versatile and can be used to pay several types of damages.  After handling only automobile and motorcycle accident cases for more than thirty years, I believe Kentucky’s PIP system is one of the best consumer protections in our insurance laws when it is used correctly.

This is my best legal advice for anyone who’s experienced a car wreck in Kentucky.

Why Reserving PIP Matters

In my clients’ car wreck cases, I can use it to pay my client’s lost wages, my client’s medical bills, reimbursement of my client’s paid-for prescriptions, reimbursement for my client’s co-pays or deductibles, part of my client’s funeral expenses, reimbursement of a health insurance lien against my client’s personal injury claim, and for replacement lost services.  No-fault is one type of insurance that you can use in a lot of different ways, and that’s why it is so important to a good car wreck claim in Kentucky.

Real Case Example

I had two car wreck cases signed up in the same week, and in both cases, the Emergency Room bills were over $20,000.  In the first case, the car wreck happened three months before, and the client had not reserved her PIP coverage, so the hospital grabbed the $10,000 in PIP coverage and sent the balance to her health insurance carrier.  In the second case, my client signed me up days after the car wreck, so immediately, I reserved her no-fault coverage, and I told the hospital to bill her health insurance.  In the first case, because her PIP was exhausted, my client had to pay all of her co-pays out of her own pocket and wait for her entire case to settle to recover those co-pays back. In the second case, because the PIP was reserved, my client paid the co-pays, gave me receipts showing she paid them, which I then shared with the no-fault carrier, and the no-fault carrier reimbursed her about thirty days after receiving the receipts. This is why reserving your PIP coverage is so important to making the best injury claim from a car accident.

Jim Desmond’s Practical Advice

My simple advice, from handling only car wreck claims, is that it will cover you to handle most of your needs:

  • Have your own automobile insurance, or motorcycle insurance, no-fault insurance of at least $10,000, and investigate buying optional, added no-fault coverage;
  • When the car accident or motorcycle wreck happens, RESERVE your no-fault coverage immediately;
  • Know that if the policy limits of an at-fault driver are ever offered, the right of the no-fault carrier to recover any amounts paid under the no-fault coverage, a subrogation lien, is extinguished by law (See KRS 304.39-070).
  • Use your health insurance to cover most of your medical bills, and since you reserved your no-fault coverage, pay the health insurance lien from your no-fault coverage instead of your bodily injury settlement.

Attorney James “Jim” Desmond

Jim Desmond is a Louisville car accident lawyer licensed in Kentucky and Indiana since 1993. He has represented victims of automobile, motorcycle, truck, and pedestrian collisions throughout Kentucky.

The Desmond Difference

Every accident case is unique. Insurance companies often evaluate claims based on limited information gathered shortly after a collision. Before accepting an insurance company’s decision about fault, injuries, or the value of your claim, it can be helpful to understand all of your legal options.  If you’ve been injured in a Kentucky car or motorcycle accident, Attorney Jim Desmond offers a free consultation to discuss your case. Call (502) 609-7657 or contact us online to learn more.