Personal Injury Protection for Medical Bills & Wage Loss
Is it true that you will help me with my property damage and PIP medical claim for free?
How are my medical bills and wage loss going to be paid?
Peace-Of-Mind
If you are injured in an automobile, truck, bicycle or pedestrian accident, then under Oregon law your automobile insurance company is required to pay your medical expenses and wage loss regardless as to who is at fault for your accident. These medical and wage loss payments are called Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits.
Our office does not charge any fee in setting up and helping you to process your PIP benefits.
Why Do You Have PIP Benefits?
Personal injury protection (PIP) benefits allow you to become medically stationary before you settle your case with the at-fault driver. Medically stationary means that you get to a point where not only do you know what injuries you sustained in the accident, but you also know whether or not those injuries are going to cause you problems for the rest of your life.
What Does PIP Pay?
Medical Bills
The minimum requirement in Oregon is $15,000 for all reasonable and necessary medical expenses incurred within two years of the accident. This is the minimum requirement and you may have purchased higher limits with your auto insurance company. Your health insurance company is required to pay any medical bills that are not paid by your auto insurance company. If you do not have health insurance, then we will collect those medical expenses from the driver who caused your collision when we resolve your case.
Wage Loss
You are also entitled to wage loss if your injuries prevent you from returning to work. You only receive wage loss if you are disabled for more than 14 days. Oregon law requires you to be disabled for 14 days, not 14 working days. Meaning, if your doctor writes you a disability slip from January 1 through January 14th, then as of January 15 you would be entitled to compensation for your wages from the 1st through the 14th and for wage loss in the future up to a maximum of 52 weeks. The minimum requirement is that your insurance company pays 70% of your gross wages up to a maximum benefit of $3,000 per month for a maximum of 52 weeks. Any wages not paid by your insurance company will be collected from the driver who caused your accident when we resolve your case.
Household Services
If you are not employed and your doctor writes you a note stating that you are unable to perform essential services around your house(household chores and childcare), then you are entitled to receive up to $30.00 a day to hire somebody to come in and clean your house or provide childcare. This is also limited to a maximum of 52 weeks and you are only entitled to this benefit if your disability is for more than 14 days.
Funeral Benefits
PIP also provides for funeral expenses with a maximum benefit of $5,000.
What if I am on my bicycle or a pedestrian?
Even if you are on a bicycle or a pedestrian, your auto insurance personal injury protection should pay your medical expenses and wage loss if you are struck by a motor vehicle. If you do not have auto insurance and do not have health insurance, then the other driver's insurance will pay your medical bills.
What If Your Insurance Company Refuses To Pay PIP Benefits?
If your insurance company refuses to pay your medical expenses or wage loss, then we can sue them and in most cases, your insurance company will have to pay our attorney fee after we win. If for some reason we lose, then you would not owe us any fees. Every year we obtain multiple verdicts against insurance companies for failing to uphold their end of the agreement and our client's medical bills and wage loss are paid in full under PIP.
FEATURED PIP CASE RESULTS
$53,435 Award Against Farmers Insurance
GK purchased two separate automobile policies of insurance with Farmers Insurance. Each policy provided $15,000 in medical bill benefits and $15,000 in wage loss benefits, for a total of $60,000. He suffered a herniated lumbar disk in a rear-end collision. Farmers initially informed GK that he was limited to $30,000 in PIP benefits for the car that he was driving at the time of the accident and that he could not use the PIP benefits form his other policy of insurance.
Farmers paid GK's first $6,500 in medical expenses and then sent GK to a doctor of their choice for an Independent Medical Exam. Farmers did not provide their doctor with GK's discogram, which verified his lumbar disk injury and the need for surgery. Without the discogram, the Farmers doctor formed the opinion that GK did not hurt his disk in the collision and that he did not need surgery and wage loss benefits.
A lawsuit was filed and we obtained the following award: 1) Requiring Farmers Insurance to provide PIP benefits under both insurance policies; 2) Requiring Farmers Insurance to pay the remaining medical bills owed of $23,435.95; 3) Requiring Farmers Insurance to pay GK's wage loss benefits totaling $30,000.
$30,928 Award Against American Family Insurance
DJ was insured by American Family Insurance under an automobile policy of insurance, providing that American Family would pay for all reasonable and necessary medical expenses up to the policy limits of $15,000. DJ was injured in a car accident and incurred a $928 medical bill for treatment that he received on the day of the accident at Portland Adventist Hospital. American Family refused to pay this bill. The case went to trial and DJ was awarded his medical bill plus attorney fees of $30,000.
The Law Offices of Clayton H. Morrison are Oregon personal injury attorneys who represent people injured in car accidents throughout Southwest Portland and its surrounding areas, including, Beaverton Aloha, Hillsboro, Forest Grove, Tigard, Tualatin, Sherwood, Lake Oswego, Scappoose, Banks, North Plains, Vernonia, Yamhill, Gaston, Carlton, McMinnville, Sheridan, Wilsonville, Woodburn, Kaiser, Salem, Monmouth, Tillamook, Cannon Beach, and Astoria.