Explanation of PIP (Personal Injury Insurance) in Texas

Were you aware that in Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Mansfield, Weatherfold, Grand Prairie, or any other city within the state of Texas, less than half the drivers will carry personal injury protection or PIP with their insurance policy. In Texas, personal injury protection happens to be one of the benefits that are more expensive when it comes to what someone is able to purchase as far as insurance is concerned.

What personal injury protection does is help to cover the losses for any lost wages as well as medical bills which are incurred due to incidents involving vehicle accidents or which come from the use of any vehicle that is covered. This requirement is on which is set out in the Texas Insurance Code, it is found within Section 1952,151. For every insurance policy that is issued within the states of Texas it must be offered, and as stated in Section 1952,152 it is required.

This information has been compiled so as to better understand the Texas Insurance Code as well as Section 1952.554 and to inform readers of this section of the laws which are enforced by holdings within the Texas Supreme Court. Here it explains a few of Texas’s laws which deal with PIP and this section is entitled: “The Payable Benefits Regardless of the Collateral or Fault Source; the Effect on Subrogation.”

Here is what this section begins with:

a. Benefits under the required coverage found in this sub-chapter must be payable without regard to: (1) Non Fault or fault of the person insured or the recipient for contributing to or caused an accident; and (2) all collateral for the medical, hospital or wage continuation benefits.

Perhaps you are not sure what this means? What one means is that the PIP benefits are payable regardless of who is found to be at fault for the cause of loss. Regardless of who is responsible for causing the injury, whether it was you or someone else, in Texas the personal injury protection will cover the benefits. What the second means is the benefits of PIP will be payable regardless of whether a medical benefits plan already exists to help cover your bills, or a hospital plan which has already handled the bill. Even when you have had another disability or if there is another type of wage loss pay which is covering your lost wages, it will still pay lost wages. As a matter of fact, within Texas law this is the only place where this may even be a possibility.

The following section states:

(b) Unless Subsection (c) provides it, any insured that pays benefits under the required coverage in the subchapter will not be entitled to subrogation or to a claim against any insurer or other person to recover benefits due to alleged faulty of someone else who contributed or caused the accident in question.

This part (b) basically means that if you have PIP benefits and it shows that the injury or loss was someone else´s fault. Your insurance or your and the DWI lawyer will not be able to attempt to recover from their insurance company or them any money which has already been paid to you.

What the last section states is:

(c) Any insurer who per this subchapter is paying benefits, this includes any county mutual insurance company, will be entitled to subrogation and claim against the individual who contributed and caused the accident if, one the day of said loss, as noted in Chapter 601 the financial responsibility, Transportation Code, has not yet been established for a motor vehicle which has been operated by the same person and was involved in an accident.

Usually, the section (c) is in fact an exception to (b) where if the accident has been caused by another person, and said subject is not covered by what is required by law, which is the liability insurance in the State of Texas, the insurance company which is providing the PIP in Texas benefits and/or the DWI lawyer is able to pursue the person who is to blame for all of the money which has been paid to the PIP claim.

In closing, the question posed is do you qualify for PIP (Personal Injury Protection) when driving an autonomous vehicle and is it effected when getting a DWI or DUI in Texas? Let our firm answer any inquiries you have regarding this matter.

Please feel free to contact us or call us at (713) 236-8744 for your free consultation!