Posted On: October 4, 2007, 1:08 am CDT

Posted By: Diana

Liz: I don't know who's insurance policy you are quoting from, but it isn't what mine says. I didn't read it wrong. I had others, including my atty, read it. It states PIP covers out of the state motor vehicle accidents. Period! I was hit my a motor vehicle. It doesn't state in my policy that it won't cover you if you are not in your car, when out of the state, in other words, a pedestrian. It also states that it covers pedestrian accidents. If this isn't misleading, I don't know what is. You are right about one thing: I shouldn't have been so stupid as to only read the ins policy. I should have looked it up in the Fl Statutes to see the little fine print. This is where you see PIP will only cover you if you are in your car if out of the state. This is where you see that PIP only covers pedestrians if you are in the state of Fl. These things were definietly OMITTED from my policy. I learned a lesson from this: As long as I live in Florida, I will always read the Fl Statutes before signing anything. Don't most people read the Fl Statutes before getting auto ins? I shouldn't have been so stupid. I wouldn't have been so angry if this would have been stated in my ins policy. I would at least have had the chance to obtain some other type of ins which would compensate for something like this. Even my ins co did not initially know you had to be in your car if out of the state. They called me a week later stating that after researching, they found they were not liable. Only a few ins geeks know about this law & most Floridians do not know. They call it: Out of State, Out of Car, Out of Luck! I don't think it should be kept such a secret. To answer your 2nd question: Medicare does not pay for auto accident related injuries if you have another ins co that is responsible. Since PIP wouldn't pay, the 3rd party ins co, (the ins co of the party who hit me), becomes the responsible party. But, they won't pay either. Why would they want to pay me? They are not my ins co. They are the ins co of the one who ran into me. The money they offered me wouldn't even pay for my ER bill and I had not even been to a doctor yet. They wanted me to accept their small offer, and sign off so they would not be liable. I could not afford to do that. The accident happened in OH & I flew home several days later (in a lot of pain), called my PCP & was told they don't see patients who have been in auto accidents. I called a dozen more doctors' offices & was told the same thing. A few said I had to have a Fl atty and they would see me. I didn't want to get an Atty, but reluctantly called several. No atty would see me because the accident happened in Oh. A few said to go to a PIP clinic. Same thing. They couldn't see me because accident happened in Oh. One doctor's office would see me if I paid all expenses up front and also signed a release that I would never get an atty or ins co involved. 1st visit $300. This didn't count diagnostic tests. I couldn't afford to do this. Due to all of these stupid laws, & noone paying my bills, I was forced into getting an Ohio atty and going to Ohio doctors. Medicare states the 3rd party ins co is my primary ins co, not only for the auto accident claims, but also all other medical claims. Another stupid law. They want reimbursed for all medical claims they have paid since the accident, accident related or not. They will not pay any present or future claims, accident related or not until they are reimbursed. I had a lot of claims during that period which were not related to the accident. Yet, Medicare takes money out of my SS check every month for medical, and I also pay AARP a monthly premium for medical, yet, they don't have to pay my bills. This is forcing me to hurry and settle before I have even finished treating for all of my injuries. But, I can't finish treating, because I have no medical ins now. I don't think Fl doctors should have to refuse to see patients who have been injured in auto accidents. How can anyone think any of these laws are good? Why would Fl even have a law stating that PIP wouldn't pay for pedestrian injuries if they were hit by a motor vehicle out of the state? If they have a stuipd law like this, they should at least put it in the policy. I think that a lot of Fl laws need to be changed.