Almost all insurance companies offer a cheap inexpensive option of medical coverage when you purchase your car insurance. Clients sometimes ask me whether they should purchase this coverage or not. While I cannot say that everyone needs it, most people do. This is medical coverage or med-pay as it is sometimes called. This coverage is usually sold in amounts of $1000, $2000, or $5000. The cost is normally just a few dollars a month – sometimes as low as $8 or $10 per month. This will depend on your company and overall rates.
Med-pay coverage will cover you if you or anyone in your car is injured during a wreck. It doesn’t matter who is at fault for the accident. If you are driving and cause the wreck, your med-pay will pay for you to be seen at the hospital and receive treatment up to the amount of your coverage. It will also cover your passengers if they are in injured. This can sometimes be helpful when you cause the wreck and a passenger is hurt. Usually someone riding in your car is a friend or family member so they feel bad about suing you, but they need their hospital bill paid. Med-pay is no fault so just setting up a claim will allow them to get their bills paid.
Med-pay can also help you if you did not cause the wreck. The fact that you have med-pay coverage will not lessen the amount the at-fault party has to pay for your claim. It should however, increase the amount that you receive since the medical doctors will have already been paid. Purchasing med-pay coverage can sometimes result in you receiving several thousand more dollars if your case settles.
In today’s economy, many people do not have health insurance coverage. If you do not have health insurance then I would highly recommend that you purchase med-pay on your car insurance. This way you will not worry about whether or not you can afford to go to the hospital if you are in a car accident. I have had clients before call me upset, wondering how they can pay for treatment for their children when they were involved in a wreck. With this type of coverage it is simple and easy. Since it is no fault coverage – the adjusters will usually just set up the claim and pay the amount.
Med-pay covers any type of car accident. This can you an at fault wreck, one where you are struck by someone, a single car wreck where you strike a telephone pole, a wreck where a deer jumps out in front of your vehicle or even if you are struck by someone who has no insurance. If you do not have health insurance you are gambling against the odds. Many doctors will even file on your med-pay policy for you if they know that you have it. This is especially true if your doctor sees many people who have been in car accidents.