In 1972, Personal Injury Protection was selected for the state of Florida in order to provide the residents of Florida with an efficient and timely way of receiving benefits from their insurers to treat their injuries.
The legislation that was adopted stated a driver’s insurance company would pay up to $10,000.00, despite who was at fault.
Beginning January 1, 2013, changes to this legislation were put into effect. The legislation now requires that the victim of the accident wishing to receive benefits must seek treatment within fourteen days of the accident. A lack of treatment or treatment after the fourteen days results in a loss of the insured’s right to seek benefits. Furthermore, if the victim is not diagnosed with an emergency medical condition the PIP benefit is reduced to $2,500.00.
The full payment of the $10,000.00 PIP benefit may only be obtained if a physician, dentist, osteopathic physician, supervised physician’s assistant, or advanced registered nurse practitioner determines the insured drivers medical state is an Emergency Medical Condition.
Emergency Medical Condition is defined under the PIP law as a medical condition manifesting itself by acute symptoms of sufficient severity, which may include severe pain, such that the absence of immediate medical attention could reasonably be expected to result in any of the following:
(a) serious jeopardy to patient health; (b) serious impairment to bodily functions; (c) serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part.
It is important to note that after an accident you have only fourteen days to seek treatment in order to be eligible for the PIP benefits.
If you are involved in an accident, it is important to contact an attorney to make sure your legal rights are protected.
For more information on the contents of this article or any other question you may have, please contact the Zweben Law Group.