PIP is the acronym for Personal Injury Protection. PIP is a part of the standard automobile insurance policy and is governed by Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 90 §34M.
If you are involved in a car accident, your insurance policy (or the insurance for the vehicle you were in, if not your car), through its required PIP, provides for the payment of medical bills and expenses as well as a percentage of an injured person’s lost wages if they are unable to work. Additionally, PIP offers replacement services, which are ordinary household services you would normally do yourself, but cannot because of your injuries. (i.e., house cleaning, grass cutting, snow shoveling).
Here's What PIP Benefits Cover After a Car Accident in Massachusetts
For each person injured in the vehicle, PIP will pay up to $8,000 in benefits for medical bills (or $2,000 in medical bills if you have private health insurance) and 75 percent of any lost wages. In the case where the injured person has their own health insurance policy, PIP pays up to $2,000 of medical bills and then all medical bills beyond the $2,000 will be submitted to the private health insurance company. PIP will, however, in most cases, cover any reasonable medical expenses that the health insurer either fails to cover or refuses to pay up to $8000. If you have Mass Health, PIP will pay up to $8,000.
You should know that PIP is "no-fault" benefits. This means that they are available no matter whose fault the accident was. For example, if you were speeding and lost control of your vehicle and crashed into another vehicle on the wrong side of the road, PIP will still pay the benefits discussed above.