Posted in Personal Injury
After a car crash in the District, an injured driver or passenger faces a decision many people have never heard of. Insurance can pay certain benefits without proof of fault, but electing those benefits can affect a later lawsuit, and the choice has to be made within sixty days. For someone with a back injury, whose full cost may not be clear in two months, that timing creates real pressure.
The District Offers No-Fault Benefits After a Crash
Personal injury protection, known as PIP, pays certain crash-related costs regardless of who caused the collision. Under D.C. Code 31-2404, medical and rehabilitation benefits cover reasonable charges for reasonably necessary products, services, and accommodations, and the maximum payable for a victim can’t be less than $50,000. Insurers must also offer work loss options of at least $12,000 and $24,000.
Those limits can run out if treatment continues for a long time. A back injury may need imaging, therapy, and follow-up visits before its full cost is known, and the list of common car crash injuries is a useful starting point for understanding what else may follow.
The Election Has a Sixty-Day Clock
Under D.C. Code 31-2405, the victim must notify the PIP insurer within sixty days of the accident of the victim’s election to receive benefits. The insurer must give written notice of the deadline. The victim and the insurer can extend the period by mutual written agreement, and if the victim can’t make the election, the next closest relative can make it.
If no election is made within the period, the mandatory liability insurance coverage applies instead. Understanding an insurance adjuster’s role helps here, because the adjuster handling the claim can shape what an injured person hears about the options.
Choosing Benefits Can Limit a Later Lawsuit
The same section says that a victim who elects PIP benefits may bring a civil action against another person only if specific conditions are met. One of them is that the victim’s medical, rehabilitation, or work loss expenses exceed the PIP benefits available. The statute lists the other conditions, and survivors can still sue over a fatal accident even if the victim elected benefits.
That makes the election a strategic choice, not a routine form. Questions worth settling before the sixty days end include:
- Which insurer is the PIP insurer, and how should written notice reach it
- How the policy’s benefit limits compare with the likely cost of treatment
- Whether another driver was at fault and what coverage that driver carried
- Whether the injury may need long-term care or time away from work
- Whether the deadline can be extended in writing
Comparing the benefits with what a lawsuit might produce is easier with real numbers, and the figures behind an average car accident settlement offer a rough reference point. Every case differs, so the comparison works best with the actual medical records.
Back injury claims also hinge on documentation. Complete records of back injuries from the first treatment onward support both the PIP claim and any later lawsuit.
Back Injuries Make the Timing Harder
Recovery from a spinal injury can stretch across months, and the bills often arrive in waves. A decision made at sixty days may rest on an early diagnosis that later changes. Hiring a bulging disc injury lawyer can help an injured person weigh that uncertainty before the deadline passes.
With a Washington D.C. back injury attorney, an injured person can have the policy read, the deadline calculated from the accident date, and the PIP limits compared with the projected cost of care. That review also shows whether an extension in writing is worth requesting.
Wayne R. Cohen, the founder and managing partner of Cohen & Cohen, has practiced law since 1991 and is a former president of the Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, D.C. He is also a former chairman of the Litigation Section of the D.C. Bar.
Sixty days can pass faster than people expect after a crash. Anyone with a back injury who is weighing the election is welcome to reach out to us to go through the policy, the deadline, and the options before the choice is made.
