H. Stanley Harris, P.C.
130-A North McDowell Street
Charlotte, NC 28204-2268
Phone: 704-334-5600
Fax: 704-334-1654
The Necessity of Automobile Medical Payments Coverage
Every owner of an automobile should carry medical payments coverage in all automobile insurance policies covering any car owned by that person. Automobile medical payments coverage is among the most reasonably priced medical reimbursement coverage that a person can buy; for example, $5,000.00 per person/per accident in medical payments coverage would cost approximately $.16 per day over the course of the year for an average driver.
Medical payments coverage is available on all liability insurance policies for a small extra premium. Medical payments coverage will cover all occupants of a person’s automobile if those persons are injured in an automobile accident while riding in the vehicle, whether the accident is the fault of the driver of the vehicle in which they were riding or the driver of a second vehicle which collides with the vehicle in which the person is riding. Additionally, medical payments coverage will cover the medical bills of a person, up to the limit of the medical payments coverage, dollar for dollar, even if a person is outside of the car as long as the person is using the vehicle; some examples of where medical payments coverage is applicable for persons outside the car are when the person is changing the car tire, loading the vehicle, or exiting and entering the vehicle.
Automobile medical payments coverage will also cover a person injured in an automobile accident even though that person may have some sort of health insurance coverage or be subject to the liability insurance coverage of another vehicle causing a collision with the vehicle in which the person is riding. Many times health insurance coverage has certain deductibles, co-payments, and exclusions which may not pay much, if any, of an injured person’s medical bills resulting from an automobile accident. However, medical payments coverage will pay for, or reimburse a person for, any and all medical bills incurred for the treatment of injuries sustained by that person in an automobile accident, whether it is that person’s fault or not, up to the medical payments coverage limit on that person’s policy. Additionally, if a person is injured in an automobile accident while riding in a vehicle which is not covered by an automobile policy with medical payments coverage, that person’s own automobile medical payments coverage can be used to cover that person’s medical bills incurred for treatment of the injuries suffered in said automobile accident. Further, should a person be injured in an automobile accident while riding in a car that has a smaller amount of medical payments coverage on the policy covering that vehicle than on the person’s own automobile medical payments coverage, that person can use the portion of his or her own automobile medical payments coverage which is in excess of the automobile medical payments coverage of the vehicle in which that person is riding when the collision occurs to help pay the treatment expenses incurred as a result of injuries suffered in said automobile accident.
Using one’s automobile medical payments coverage after an accident for the payment of the treatment expenses incurred by that person, whether the accident is the fault of that person or another individual does not increase the premium on the automobile insurance policy of that person. The use of medical payments coverage, which is non-fault based coverage, does not give rise to the accumulation of insurance points which would cause a person’s automobile insurance coverage premium to rise. In North Carolina, insurance points are only assessed if a person is found at fault for a motor vehicle collision, or if the person is convicted of a moving violation. The simple use of medical payments coverage, whether the underlying motor vehicle accident is the fault of the policy owner or some other third person, does not trigger the issuance of insurance points; thus, with no additional insurance points, the person’s automobile insurance premium will not rise.
Every owner of a motor vehicle should be encouraged to carry as much automobile medical payments coverage as can be reasonably afforded as the cost of medical expenses always seem to increase. As far as the cost of the medical payments coverage, a small annual premium can end up providing the automobile owner as well as his or her passengers with a sizeable amount of medical payments coverage for injuries suffered in an automobile accident, whether it is the fault of the automobile owner or another driver who collides with the owner’s automobile. Additionally, medical payments coverage can be claimed and used as soon as the medical expense is incurred rather than waiting for the outcome of a liability insurance claim which could take many months to years.