Who's that on the Other Side of the Ring? Oh, it's my UM/UIM Carrier....

Personal Injury Protection and Uninsured Motorist/Underinsured Motorist benefits come from the same place. They're both paid by your Auto carrier.

PIP benefits are paid out regardless of who was at-fault for the collision. And since PIP medical benefits are usually limited to $10,000 (not always, but that's the most common amount) there isn't a lot of scrutiny from your Auto carrier. It receives and pays the bills.

So it feels like UM or UIM benefits will be treated the same way. But they're not. Getting them is an adversarial process.

A UIM insurer “stands in the shoes” of the at-fault driver and may assert any defenses to liability or damages that would have been available to the tortfeasor.

This creates an arms-length, adversarial dynamic between insurer and insured. That's why clients hire us to handle their UIM claims just like they hire us to handle claims against the driver who hit them.

Don't expect that just because it's your insurance carrier or the fact you paid for UIM coverage that it's going to be easy to get.