PIP after a Houston car wreck: how Texas personal injury protection pays, and when

Personal injury protection, or PIP, is the part of a Texas auto policy that people forget they have. After a Houston car wreck it is often the first money that reaches your medical bills, long before the other driver’s insurer decides anything. Here is how it works under the Texas Insurance Code.

Do you have PIP?

Probably. Texas requires PIP to be included in every auto policy unless a named insured rejects it in writing (Insurance Code 1952.152). If you never signed a rejection, check your declarations page: PIP will usually be listed with its limit. The law does not require more than $2,500 per person (section 1952.153), and many people buy more.

Fault does not matter

PIP is paid without regard to fault (section 1952.155(a)). That makes it different from a claim against the other driver, where the insurer will argue about who caused the wreck and may try to put part of the blame on you. With PIP, you do not have to prove the other driver was at fault to have your own coverage pay.

That is why we often open a PIP claim in the first week. It can start paying under your own policy while the larger claim is still being built.

The 30-day rule

The insurer must pay PIP benefits within 30 days after it receives satisfactory proof of the claim (section 1952.156(a)). Satisfactory proof usually means the bills and records that show the expense and its connection to the wreck. If payment is slow, the first question is whether the insurer has everything it needs, and the second is whether it is following the rule.

PIP and the claim against the other driver

PIP does not replace a claim against the driver who caused the wreck. It is your own coverage, paid by your own insurer. The claim against the other driver, usually against that driver’s liability insurer, covers what the wreck cost you under Texas law, and it is subject to the fault rule: your recovery is reduced by your own share of responsibility and barred if that share is more than 50 percent (Civil Practice and Remedies Code 33.001).

Keep track of what PIP paid and when. The full cost of your care, including what PIP covered, is part of the picture when the larger claim is put together.

When the other driver has little or no insurance

A Texas driver must carry at least 30/60/25 in liability coverage (Transportation Code 601.072). If the driver who hit you carried less, or none, your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage may help. Like PIP, UM/UIM is part of every Texas policy unless it was rejected in writing (Insurance Code 1952.101).

What PIP usually covers

What PIP pays, and for whom, is set by the Insurance Code and the wording of your own policy, up to the limit printed on your declarations page. People are often surprised by what their own coverage includes, and just as often by what it leaves out. Read your policy, or send it to us, and we will go through the exact wording that applies to you, line by line, before any claim form goes back to the insurer.

A short checklist

• Find your declarations page and look for PIP and UM/UIM.
• Report the wreck to your insurer as your policy requires.
• Ask your insurer for the PIP claim forms and send them back with your bills.
• Keep copies of everything you send and the date you sent it.
• Note what PIP pays, and when, for the larger claim later.

If any of this feels like too much while you are hurt, call our Houston office and let us handle it. No Fees or Costs Unless We Win: the firm advances the costs of your case, and you pay no attorney’s fee and no case costs unless we recover money for you.