What Are No-Fault Benefits?

In New York, along with 11 other states (Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Kentucky, Hawaii, North Dakota, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Utah) and Puerto Rico has a statutory structure that provides personal injury protection (PIP) first party benefits to people injured in motor vehicle accidents regardless of fault. This mandatory insurance coverage for medical costs, lost earnings and out of pocket expenses is commonly referred to as “no-fault benefits. If you’ve been injured in a car accident, no-fault benefits can help you survive financially during the pendency of your personal injury case. That’s why car accident lawyers Queens, Manhattan, Staten Island, Bronx and Brooklyn assist their clients with applying for and fulfilling the requirements to collect no-fault benefits. Wittenstein & Wittenstein has been helping people the full amount of no-fault benefits they’re entitled to since New York enacted it’s no-fault law in 1974.

NO-FAULT MEDICAL COVERAGE

It’s important to know that no-fault medical coverage is primary for injuries caused by car accidents, so using your health insurance instead is simply not an option. This means that you must find doctors that accept no-fault insurance as payment, which isn’t always an easy task. That’s why Brooklyn car accident attorneys consider their job to help clients find good quality care with health care providers that take no-fault insurance. One of the advantages of using no-fault to pay for your care is that referrals are not required for specialists and there generally no deductibles or copays. In addition to paying providers, no-fault benefits cover payments for devices and prescription medications.

REIMBURSEMENT FOR LOST EARNINGS

Another popular feature of no-fault insurance is the ability to collect up to 80% of your income even if your employer based disability benefits are not generous. In order to collect lost earnings benefits form no-fault, you must first apply for any applicable disability benefits and then request that no-fault pay the difference. No-fault will also pay benefits if you’re self-employed if you can provide proof of lost income based on tax returns and other evidence. If you’ve lost income as a result of a car accident, it’s good to know that the best Car Accident Lawyers in Queens can help you collect lost earnings benefits quickly.

OTHER EXPENSES

In addition to direct health care and lost earnings, no-fault pays for other expenses that incurred by accident victims such as home care, transportation to doctors and other needs. They’ll even pay for the wear and tear on your car and for gas if you’re driving yourself to the doctor. Your Brooklyn car accident attorney will remind you that these benefits are not by any means unlimited. In New York, the total for other expenses on a daily basis is twenty five dollars, so you have to use the funds judiciously. For example, you might walk to your doctor’s appoint and take a taxi back home.

CAR ACCIDENT LAWYER IN QUEENS

If you’ve been injured in a car accident, it’s important to make sure that your application for no-fault benefits is filed within thirty days. The minimum required for no-fault benefits is $50,000 per person, which sounds like a decent amount of money, but you can burn through it quickly if you’re seriously injured and out of work. Collecting no-fault benefits is only a small part of what you can collect when you hire an experienced Queens, Bronx, Manhattan, Staten Island and Brooklyn car accident attorney to handle your case. Wittenstein & Wittenstein has been helping people the collect the largest possible amount of compensation since 1959.