Generally speaking, personal injury is the legal term that describes harm to your body, emotions, or mind. The word “personal” is included to state the injury must be to a person, instead of a property or building.
If your website had a security issue, causing financial harm, this wouldn’t necessarily provoke a customer’s personal injury insurance.
Some businesses confused the addition of “personal” to mean unrelated to company work. This is incorrect.
What Is Personal Injury Insurance?
Personal Injury Insurance is a safety net for when you are harmed. Should you find yourself hurt due to your own choices or not, you can use your personal injury insurance to pay for medical expenses or maintain your lifestyle due to recovery days that prevent you from working.
One of the most common types of lawsuits against businesses is based on torts. A tort is a legal term that describes a violation of someone’s civil rights. This includes unintentional torts such as negligence.
If a business fails to consider an issue that it should have been aware of, and that issue causes bodily injury, then the customer can use their personal injury insurance to pay for the medical fees.
To get a bigger payout, which could allow the customer more time for recovery, they can sue the business for damages. For this reason, a company will need its own protection, to soften the blow.
How Is Personal Injury Insurance Used In Businesses?
You can often find personal injury insurance embedded within a company’s liability insurance.
For example, Chris Hudson Law Group at https://www.chrishudsonlaw.com/ understand that although truck drivers can be at fault for a crash, the company which hires them takes on the liability. This means they have to pay for the injury claims despite the truck driver causing the issue and not the business itself.
The company may also have to pay for the truck driver’s medical expenses due to the personal injury clause if the vehicle was at fault, not the driver.
Every state has its own rules about liability, personal injury, and auto insurance. Some have to be used in a 3-piece package, others can be sold separately. Ideally, you should use a personal injury lawyer to navigate your state’s rules and tell you what you need as a business owner, and what is simply beneficial.
Commercial general liability insurance (also known as CGL) is the most used insurance for businesses in the US. It can cover bodily injury, property damage, business-related operations, advertising issues, and medical payments.
Because personal injury insurance is included in commercial general liability insurance, it can be easily missed or forgotten about. If you already have insurance, you should check the paperwork to see if personal injury is included under your business’s cover.
Generally speaking, CGL is known as an “all-risk” insurance. This means that it covers all risks unless they are explicitly excluded. Therefore if any bodily injury occurs on your business’s property, or to your employees at work, then you should have cover for their medical expenses.
Having this insurance set up means you don’t have to worry about a lawsuit or bad reputation due to the accident.
The Pros Of Personal Injury Insurance
Because some commercial general liability insurances do not include personal injury, you may need to consider adding this insurance to your list. To help you decide, here are some reasons to sign up for the coverage.
You Don’t Need Health Insurance
Because personal injury insurance covers medical expenses, you don’t need to use your health insurance to gain the financial benefits.
If you would rather have just one type of insurance to monitor, personal injury insurance could be all you need.
You Can Customize Your Payments
Most personal injury insurance policies allow you to state how much you would like to pay each month. They then offer a coverage amount based on those payments. Each state will have its own minimum payment limit, which means you won’t be able to stick to $1 a month, but the maximum payment is up to you.
It Ensures Medical Funds Quickly
Picture it. You have just landed yourself in an accident, and are blind with pain. All you want is for the agony to stop. Doctors help you, but the trauma of the event makes you distant and you’re no longer able to work.
After you have been mended, you are handed a hefty bill. Not only do you have to wade through emotional turmoil, but you also have to find money fast.
With personal injury insurance, paying the medical bill isn’t an issue. It doesn’t matter who is at fault as the payment is instantly given to your medical provider. The process is faster than most other insurance methods.
The Cons Of Personal Injury Insurance
Although personal injury insurance is an amazing option for most people and businesses, it doesn’t necessarily cover the needs you require.
PIP Isn’t Available In Every State
Only some states allow personal injury insurance as an individual insurance type. This means you may have to apply for package insurance to receive this safety blanket. For example, commercial general liability insurance might be a more useful insurance package for your business.
Each State Has Different Benefits Around Insurance
Each has its own rules around personal injury insurance. Some offer no-fault claims while others see a fault in everyone involved. This means that each insurance company will offer different benefits, making picking an insurer more complicated than you might want.
There isn’t a “one rule for all” mentality in American insurance.
Personal Injury Insurance Is Expensive
Because personal injury insurance will pay out whenever you receive an injury, the premiums for the insurance are rather high. They are higher than most medical payment options.
Summary
Knowing if personal injury insurance is right for you or your business comes down to what you need in terms of protections.
The state you are in might be the main reason to turn down the service, but in reality, getting cover for injuries to your body, mind or emotions can protect you from hefty medical costs.
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