If you are injured in a car accident in Massachusetts and your vehicle is registered and insured in Massachusetts, you are entitled to “PIP” benefits under your own, 1st party, auto insurance policy. PIP benefits are “no-fault,” benefits to reimburse your medical bills and lost wages. They are paid regardless of which driver is at-fault for the collision. The PIP statute, G.L. c. 90 s. 34m is otherwise know as the “PIP statute.”
Unfortunately, despite your entitlement to these benefits (which you pay for through your premiums each month), even your own (1st party) insurance company does everything in their power to avoid paying your bills and your lost wages.
The most common mechanism they use to justify denying payments is called an “IME,” which stands for “Independent Medical Examination.” The title is laughable, because there is nothing “independent” about these exams. However, there are clauses within your insurance policy that require the insured to cooperate with such exams.
The “Independent” doctor is hired and paid by your insurer to examine you and determine whether your injuries require any further treatment. Not surprisingly, these doctors almost ALWAYS opine that you are totally healed and once they issue such a report to the PIP insurer, your bills go unpaid from that day forward. They don’t even consider your treating doctors’ opinion.
Imagine, the company that you pay your premiums to every month cutting off the benefits that you paid-for? That’s why you need the aggressive personal injury attorneys at Orlando & Associates, PC.
