What Are Personal Injury Protection Benefits? (“PIP”)

All Utah Car Policies Have PIP. 

In Utah, every Utah car policy of insurance must have “Personal Injury Protection Benefits” as an included coverage.

PIP Pays Regardless of who is At-Fault.

Personal injury Benefits (“PIP”) are first party insurance benefits attached to your own car policy of insurance and pay out when you are hurt in a car accident regardless of whether you are at-fault or not.

Example California Rear-ender.   You are in California with your Utah car and Utah car policy of insurance.  You are rear-ended.  Your Utah car policy’s PIP benefits will pay up to their policy limits of at-least $3,000 for all medical bills related to your car collision.

Example Provo Utah Rear-ender.  You rear-end someone else on University Avenue in Orem, Utah and are hurt in the process.  Your own Utah PIP benefits will payout for medical bills you receive from the rear-end car accident, even though you caused it.

Example Orem State Street T-Bone Accident.  You are heading north on Orem State Street and are t-boned by a car entering State Street.  The other person is at-fault, but you are still bear a small part of the accident.  Your Utah PIP benefits payout for medical bills up to your PIP limit.

What is Included in Utah PIP Benefits?

Personal Injury Protection Benefits.    PIP benefits are some of the cheapest health insurance benefits you can buy and are triggered by one of the most common injury producing events—car accidents.

Even if you have really good private health care insurance, you should up your PIP medical pay benefits to at-least $10,000, rather than the Utah state minimum $3,000.

PIP Benefits Itemized.

Medical pay benefits.  $3,000 state minimum for all reasonable and necessary medical bills related to the car accident.

Wage Loss.   “The lesser of $250 per week or 85% of any loss of gross income and loss of earning capacity per person from inability to work, for a maximum of 52 consecutive weeks after the loss, except that this benefit need not be paid for the first three days of disability, unless the disability continues for longer than two consecutive weeks after the date of injury.”  See Utah Code Ann 31A-22-307.  You will need a doctor’s inability to work note and income statements to capture lost wages.

Death Benefits.  Compensation on account of death of a person, payable to the person’s heirs, in the total of $3,000.

Funeral Benefits.   Funeral, burial, or cremation benefits not to exceed a total of $1,500 per person.

Loss of Household Services.  “A special damage allowance not exceeding $20 per day for a maximum of 365 days, for services actually rendered or expenses reasonably incurred for services that, but for the injury, the injured person would have performed for the injured person’s household, except that this benefit need not be paid for the first three days after the date of injury unless the person’s inability to perform these services continues for more than two consecutive weeks.”  You will need a doctor’s note indicating your inability to do these household services to qualify.

Can You Stack PIP of Different Utah Car Policies?  Sometimes.

When you are a passenger in your buddy’s car and you are involved in an accident, sometimes your PIP coverage can cover you in addition to the driver’s PIP coverage.  It is called PIP stacking and sometimes it can happen, although insurance companies try to write their car policies to exclude stacking.

When Multiple PIP Policies are Involved What is the Order of PIP Payout?

There is an order of which PIP insurance carrier pays out first.

Primary PIP Coverage.  The Car You Were In:  When hurt in a car accident, the car you are in generally provides primary and first PIP coverages.

Example Driver.  You were the driver who got rear-ended.  You were driving your own car. Your own Utah car insurance will be primary PIP for you and all passengers who were hurt in the car accident.

Example Passenger.  You were a passenger in a t-bone car accident in Lehi, Utah.  Your buddy who was driving his car will be primary PIP for your accident injuries as a passenger.  Then you ask your own PIP carrier to start paying once the driver’s PIP benefits have exhausted.

Pedestrian versus Car.  When you are hurt by a car as a pedestrian walking near downtown Salt Lake City, again, the primary PIP payor is the PIP attached to the car that hit you.  If the person who hit you while walking didn’t have insurance, or you exhaust their PIP benefits, you sometimes can stack your own car insurance for secondary PIP benefits.

Car versus Bicycle Accident.   Just like being hit by a car while walking, if you are hit by a car while riding your bicycle, that car’s PIP coverages will be primary.

Secondary PIP Coverage.   Your own Car Insurance when You are Hurt as a Passenger.  Secondary PIP payor is often your own car insurance, when you were injured as a passenger in someone else’s car.   See “Example Passenger” above.

PIP Denials. 

PIP denials happen when your own car insurance PIP adjuster cuts off your PIP coverage, claiming that they are not related to the car accident or excessive.  This generally happens with people who have high PIP coverages, $10,000 or above.

You can sue your own insurance company over the PIP denial and the Utah PIP statute allows for attorneys fees if you win.  It is still a hard road and the insurance company will generally conduct a “paper review” by some doctor in another country before they PIP deny you.

Where is Utah’s PIP Statutes Found?

Utah’s primary PIP laws are found at Utah Code Ann. 31A-22-306 to 309 (2022).  These three statutes describe what PIP is, what triggers PIP payout and when PIP can be limited for not being related to the car accident.

UTAH CAR ACCIDENT LAWYER Jake Gunter.  Call/TXT (801) 373-6345 for a free consultation.