Medical Payments Coverage For Commercial Drivers
Running a business comes with a lot of risks. When your business involves the operation of vehicles on a regular basis, you face even more risks. Because of these risks, having a strong commercial auto insurance policy for your fleet is very important.
One type of coverage you can add to your commercial auto insurance policy that can protect you and your business from significant financial losses is medical payments coverage.
What Is Medical Payments Coverage?
Medical payments coverage is a type of commercial auto insurance coverage that helps pay for injury-related costs if you or an employee are hurt in an accident while operating one of your company’s fleet vehicles.
Unlike other types of auto insurance coverages, medical payments coverage does not factor in fault. You can collect on your medical payments benefits even if you caused the accident.
Common types of costs covered by medical payments coverage include:
- Ambulance and hospital bills.
- Funeral costs.
Who Needs Medical Payments Coverage?
Every commercial auto insurance policy can benefit from having medical payments coverage.
One very important thing to keep in mind is that liability insurance – the most commonly required type of auto insurance – covers injuries suffered by the other driver and his passengers in an accident you cause (and not your own injuries or your employees’ injuries).
To ensure you and your employees receive compensation for medical bills after an accident, medical payments coverage is a must.
Additionally, when considering commercial medical payments coverage, you should also keep in mind how medical payments coverage works with all the following:
- Health insurance.
- Workers’ compensation insurance.
- Personal injury protection (PIP) insurance.
Health Insurance
Because most health insurance policies cover injuries sustained from traffic collisions, you may wonder why and how you would benefit from medical payments coverage in the event of an accident involving commercial vehicles.
Simply put, medical payments coverage can be a relatively inexpensive supplement to health insurance when your health plan cannot cover all the costs associated with your injuries.
Also consider that you are not the only person under your commercial auto insurance policy; your employees might not be covered by their health insurance quite as extensively as you are.
Workers’ Compensation
If your employee is hurt on the job while operating a vehicle rented or owned by the company, your workers’ compensation insurance will cover costs associated with that employee’s injuries.
Some companies will allow you to use your medical payments coverage to supplement your workers’ compensation insurance. However, some commercial auto insurance providers may not allow you to collect on your medical payments coverage in this type of scenario.
Speak with your insurance agent to learn more about how your medical payments coverage can be used alongside your workers’ compensation.
Personal Injury Protection
Also known as no-fault insurance, personal injury protection (PIP) insurance coverage is required in no-fault states. PIP is very similar to medical payments coverage; it also helps pay for certain injury-related costs after a car accident without regard to fault.
If you are located in a no-fault state, you may find that medical payments can be added to your commercial auto insurance policy as an option. However, some states and insurance companies will not allow you to have both PIP and medical payments coverage, in which case the required PIP will be your only form of medical coverage on your policy.
If you do have the option to purchase both:
- PIP will be your primary form of auto medical coverage.
- Medical payments coverage will supplement your PIP, paying for costs that exceed your PIP limits.
Purchasing Medical Payments Coverage
Most commercial auto insurance companies offer medical payments coverage as an option to include in your policy. Include this coverage type when you request a commercial auto insurance quote.
Medical payments coverage is considered one of the more affordable types of commercial car insurance coverage. When you consider the protection it provides to you and your business, its value is clear.
