November and December Dedicated To No-Fault Car Insurance

For the last two months of 2009, focus in certain states fall on personal injury protection coverage which, during the course of the year, has become the target of fraud and abuse by deceitful clinics and medical practitioners who bill for very expensive and unnecessary medical and check-up procedures.

For those who are not familiar, the words “no-fault car insurance” are used in states to refer to a car insurance program that makes it possible for policyholders to receive reimbursements and to recover monetary losses from their own insurance provider, regardless of which party caused the accident. Today, there are 12 states and Puerto Rico that have no-fault car insurance laws. Five states have verbal thresholds: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida, and New York. The remaining seven states have monetary thresholds: Utah, Hawaii, North Dakota, Kansas, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and Kentucky. Of all these 12, three follow a “choice” no-fault law, meaning they can opt to reject the lawsuit threshold and keep the right to take legal action for any auto-related damages. These three states are Kentucky, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Under current no-fault laws, motorists may file legal action for grave damages and for hurt and distress only if the situation satisfies certain criteria. The criteria, known as a threshold, refer to the harshness or level of damage of the injury. The severity of the damage may be described in verbal terms (verbal threshold) or in monetary amounts, the dollar amounts corresponding to medical expenses (monetary threshold).

According to industry experts, the number of fraud cases regarding no fault insurance has risen to a tremendous level and needs urgent attention. In New York, the personal injury protection insurance claims costs were estimated to be $8,748, and amount that is second highest in the US. Insurance providers in New York say that part of the cause of their problem is the legislation made during the end of 2004 ruling that the time estimated for filing claims need to me cut to a minimum. According the these companies, lessening the time needed to filing claims leads to less time taken to inspect and analyze each claim, thus giving opportunities for fraud. For 2009, claims costs went up an astonishing 56% and investigations regarding fraudulent claims have tripled in number.

On the other hand, in Minnesota, a study conducted by the Insurance Research Council reveals that the state had more than 500 insurance claims for personal injury protection. Bulk of the costs of which, roughly 58%, were bills from chiropractors, and only 11% and 19% respectively represent physical therapists and physicians’ bills. While much of Minnesota’s data doesn’t necessary lead to fraud, it still shows an astounding number of increases in claims that provide room for investigation.

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Uninsured Drivers Pose Risk

The alarm for uninsured motorist is on as some states remain lenient about letting their motorists drive freely without the need to purchase car insurance policy first. According to a recent study conducted by the Insurance Research Council, one out of every seven US drivers go and ride freely without being insured first.

Reports from the Insurance Information Institute show that drivers who do not have car insurance pose a great of threat once they get on the road – when an uninsured motorist causes a road accident and he isn’t capable of paying the damages, the injured party would have to carry the burden. According to the organization, the way to eliminate the problem on uninsured drivers is to first find out how many they are and who they are.

Insurance Industry Committee on Motor Vehicle Administration former chair Loren McGlade says that if the uninsured drivers are not identified, there is no way to solve the problem s that they cause. According to McGlade, states today techniques like random sampling and requiring insurance providers to provide copies of their business books and customer databases.

On the other hand, insurance companies say that the problem is rooted by the lack of understand regarding the importance of being an insured driver. Added to this is the fact that the unemployment rate is starting to increase also forms part of the problem’s cost. According to experts, car owners today will choose to save up on cash rather than spending a lot of money on policy papers because of the challenges caused by the economy. Another study of the Insurance Information Institute shows that around 17% are willing to scarify not buying car insurance if it means having enough cash until the next payday.

The Department of Transportation says that they have already begun looking for ways to lessen the number of insured drivers. According to reports, the Department is laying down plans of making car insurance mandatory in all the US states and is making sure that state authorities punish those who do not follow.

Former Chair McGlade said that insurance premiums should be strictly regulated by each state. Private companies who take advantage by setting high prices are one cause why motorists think twice about being insured. Experts say that when car owners do not enough to pay for policies, they may begin to be blinded by price and deliberately exchange it for money. McGlade responds to this by saying that if these drivers are made to understand the real risk they are creating by not buying insurance, they will all think twice about not being insured.

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Protection Still Possible Even without Uninsured and Underinsured Coverage

For certain states in the US, such as New York, getting concerned about uninsured drivers remains to be an option. New York and other states that still rules for uninsured and underinsured driver coverage to be optional, there are still ways to get protected from inadequately protected motorists.

According a recent research conducted by the Insurance Information Institute, out of every seven motorists in the United States does not have enough protection from auto insurance; and even though it’s only 1 out of 7, those with inadequately protection can greatly cause repercussions for insured motorists.

Reports say that Insurance companies claim that most of their policyholders do not bother to think much about the underinsured or uninsured motorist coverage portion part when they check their auto insurance policy; they only bother to do so when the time comes when there is an actual victim. According to Insurance Information Institute consumer spokesperson and senior vice president Jeanne M. Salvatore, drivers only care about underinsured or uninsured motorist coverage when they themselves are the victims or they run into someone who unfortunately has very little insurance coverage or no car insurance at all.

Unknown to a number of motorists, the coverage for uninsured motorists can compensate the insured driver, a member of his family, or a selected motorist for bodily damages that can come as a result of an uninsured motorist or a hit-and-run driver. On the other hand, the coverage for underinsured motorists comes to the rescue when the driver who caused the accident has not enough insurance coverage to pay you for overall loss. Underinsured motorist coverage also protects drivers in the unfortunate even that they are hit by a vehicle as a pedestrian.

The Insurance Research Council study conducted during the first quarter of 2009 shows that approximately 14% of all motorists in the US are uninsured, with considerable variations among each state. Mississippi (28%), New Mexico (29%), and Alabama (24%) are Included in the list of states with the highest percentage of uninsured motorists. Meanwhile, among the stats that has the smallest number of uninsured drivers are Massachusetts (1%), New York and North Dakota (both 1%), and Maine (4%).

For motorists who do not want to purchase uninsured and underinsured driver coverage, there are other means to receive protection. For states that follow the No-fault insurance laws (all in all there are 12 states and Puerto Rico that follow the no-fault system) victims can get benefits from their own insurance providers regardless if the other party has insurance coverage.

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