You are from NJ. The limo is from NJ (per plates.) I believe PIP laws from NJ would apply as to insurance coverage.
NY law would apply on negligence issue. Let vehicle owner's squabble on liability issue although it appears clear cut. You were a passenger. Obviously, free of negligence.
I would send a brief letter to limo company. State you were injured. Include copies of bills to date. Express your wish is to be reimbursed for these bills and continuing treatment. Short sentence about care is continuing and there will be a claim to recover benefits as applicable to their PIP coverage.
I would also notify your carrier via letter. I would not send them bills at this time. They may step in or at least give advice.
You were a passenger. Don't be concerned re: surcharge or raise in rates.
I would get an attorney if this drags on. Give both carriers a week or so to respond.
See attached PDF for very brief NJ PIP.
Do NOT consider my comments as legal advice. Just trying to help out.
You are from NJ. The limo is from NJ (per plates.) I believe PIP laws from NJ would apply as to insurance coverage.
NY law would apply on negligence issue. Let vehicle owner's squabble on liability issue although it appears clear cut. You were a passenger. Obviously, free of negligence.
I would send a brief letter to limo company. State you were injured. Include copies of bills to date. Express your wish is to be reimbursed for these bills and continuing treatment. Short sentence about care is continuing and there will be a claim to recover benefits as applicable to their PIP coverage.
I would also notify your carrier via letter. I would not send them bills at this time. They may step in or at least give advice.
You were a passenger. Don't be concerned re: surcharge or raise in rates.
I would get an attorney if this drags on. Give both carriers a week or so to respond.
See attached PDF for very brief NJ PIP.
Do NOT consider my comments as legal advice. Just trying to help out.
Wrong. NY pip would apply as this is the venue. If NJ PIP is more favorable versus NY PIP, which depending on your own policy it could be, then you will get that benefit.
Being in claims for almost 11 years and as a former supervisor in claims for four plus years at Progressive, I will offer my advice since you asked for it and since I see these situations occur quite a bit (I work/live currently in NJ near NYC).
Call Progressive ASAP and file a claim on your policy. You will likely be required to do this anyway. Do this asap if you have not done this already. This is critical so you do not get stuck with medical bills that your coverage will not pay for since it was not pre-cert'd.
Sounds like a police report was made, you are just not listed, correct? If this is the case then obtain a copy of the police report or police report number and call the precinct that made the report asap and explain this situation and explain that you need this amended. Who paid for the limo? I'm sure that you can provide some proof of this if this is needed. In the even that the police will not amend, this is not the end of the world though as you will have proof that you were in the limo and that it was paid for.
It seems like your concern is regarding the medical bills/health and not property damage which makes sense since it was not your vehicle. Usually you will have to make a first party claim anyway through your own coverage. Your rates will not automatically increase but I cannot guarantee anything.
You will have out of pockent expenses depending on your policy. Best case is that you will have a $250 deductible. To recover that I would go after the insurance company for the limo company (sounds like you are going down this road already). Also, to this point we have not even discussed who is at fault for this accident. No matter which driver was negligent, you as a passenger were completely negligent free. This means that depending on who was at fault (by the way NY is a Pure Comparative Negligence state - meaning both drivers can be at fault for any percentage and collect the percentage they were not at fault through the other party) you can also make a bodily injury claim through that insurance company. Depending on how you play that you can get at least your out of pocket covered or if you get an attorney and play cards right, you can get much more out of it, but that's up to you.
Lastly, you can absoultely find out who the insurance company is with just the license plate of the limo. Plate runs in NY are linked to the most recent insurance on that vehicle. Not all states are like that but I know from lots of experience that NY is. If you have any further questions, please pm me. Thanks and hope you feel better!
I filed a claim with progressive yesterday. Still waiting to hear from the adjustor.
The police office refused to amend the report saying he didnt see me at the accident. I showed him pics, ambulance report, hospital records, phone records, etc... he basically said, I believe you, but wont amend it because at the time of the accident no one told me about you, and the report is just an account of what was told to me at the scene.
Turns out the ambulance that took me to the hospital was just passing by, and never called it in. (the officer claimed the ambulance company wasnt supposed to respond to the scene (wasnt on their response list) and shouldnt have taken witnesses away from the scene without callling it in.
The limo company never charged us, but we have email confirmation for the trip. We have phone records of the driver saying he was outside the house when he picked us up, and they did place a hold on our credit card to make the reservation. I dont know how to access records of the hold on the credit card, but i do know that the ambulance report matches the police report, and we have photos my wife took at the scene.
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Update: Progressive claimed my NJ PIP doesn't cover me because the vehicle I was in had Limo Plates.
They will try to find the insurance carrier for the vehicle i was in, and the other vehicle, but they wont cover medical under PIP.
If the other vehicle doesn't have insurance or what not, than extended medical benefits will cover me for a little bit, but no missed work benefits or anything like that...
