Evaluating Car Insurance Medical Payment Coverage

Most people think they have great car insurance, but are unaware of what is actually covered and what is not. The most important insurance everyone should have, but often do not carry, is called Med-Pay insurance or Medical Payments coverage. Med pay is not required, but it is by far the most important and yet the least expensive insurance you can carry. Unlike Bodily Injury, Med Pay covers all of your medical bills in case you are involved in an accident. Bodily Injury never covers the driver of your car.

Since 1 out of every 4 cars on the road today does not have insurance, it is extremely important for you to review your car insurance and make sure you have adequate coverage including Med Pay.

Let us cover some of the most important types of car insurance coverage. These include Collision, Comprehensive, Property Damage, Bodily Injury, Underinsured Motorist, Uninsured Motorist, Med-Pay, and Towing.

Collision, only covers the damage to your vehicle or other vehicles involved in an accident if you are at fault or the police can not 100% determine who was at fault because both drivers give conflicting information or accounts of the accident.

Comprehensive, only covers the damage to your vehicle if the accident is caused by nature or what insurance will term as “an act of God” or no other vehicle was involved. Examples of comprehensive coverage is hail damage, tornado damage, rocks falling onto roadway or car, hitting a deer, icy road conditions or any accident that does not involve another automobile (going into a ditch, hitting a guard rail or telephone pole, etc.).

Property Damage, only covers the cost to repair or fix any buildings, fences, signs, or other property that your car damages if you are at fault or if no fault can be determined.

Bodily Injury, only covers the medical bills for those in other vehicles, bicyclists, or pedestrians you hit if either you were at fault or no fault can be determined. You, the driver, are never covered under this type of insurance.

Underinsured Motorist will pick up your expenses and the damage to your car if the party at fault did not have adequate insurance to cover your expenses.

Uninsured Motorist covers your expenses and damage to your car if the party at fault did not have any insurance or you are involved in a hit and run accident and the driver of the other car can not be found.

Med Pay covers you, the driver of the car for all medical bills due to an accident, regardless of who is at fault in the accident. I currently pay $34 a year for $10,000 of coverage. That is $10,000 worth of medical expenses for me and $10,000 worth of medical expenses for each and every passenger in my car with no deductibles or out of pocket expenses for any medical treatment due to a car accident. I pay less than 3 dollars per month for this insurance!

Since you and your family are by far the most valuable commodity involved in an accident, it is important to make sure you have this coverage on your policy. And since 1 out of every 4 cars on the road today does not have insurance, it is extremely important to carry a minimum of $5,000 of Med Pay insurance to cover your medical bills. $5,000 worth of medical coverage for you and every person in your car should cost you less than 2 dollars per month. Make sure you check your car insurance and either add or increase your Med Pay coverage today!

Finally, Towing or Road Side Assistance covers reimbursement for road side assistance and towing costs if you blow out a tire, your car won’t start, overheats, or stops running for any reason. It is usually a nominal fee and worth the amount if you drive a much older car with a lot of miles on it.

We at Total Body Chiropractic specialize in treating car accident patients and want to keep the public informed of this and other important information. If you have any questions or need to make an appointment, please contact our office at (615) 223-1175.