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"No fault" coverage in Arkansas refers to medical payments, disability income and accidental death benefits available to all auto insurance policy holders. The purpose of these coverages is to provide benefits to an insured injured in an auto accident regardless of who caused the accident.

In Arkansas, these coverages are said to "follow the person." That means that if you have these benefits on your personal insurance policy, you can use them even if you are injured while driving or riding in someone else's vehicle. In addition, your coverage can apply to persons driving or riding in your vehicle if they don't have these coverages on their own policy. Specifically, these coverages are available "to the named insured and members of his family residing in the same household injured in a motor vehicle accident, to passengers injured while occupying the insured motor vehicle, and to persons other than those occupying another vehicle struck by the insured motor vehicle, without regard to fault." Ark. Code Ann. § 23-89-202.

These three coverages either sold together in a single package called "Personal Injury Protection" or they are offered individually by your insurance carrier. Regardless of how they are sold or what they are called by the company, each of these coverages offer specific minimum benefits. Additional benefits are usually available. You would need to consult your insurance agent on the limits and costs of any additional coverage. If you choose to reject any or all of these coverages, you must sign a specific "Rejection of Coverage" statement on your insurance application form.

Medical payments has a statutory minimum limit of $5,000 per person per accident in Arkansas. This means that your insurance company will pay up to $5,000 in reasonable and necessary medical expenses incurred because of an auto accident within (usually) two years from the date of the accident. The insurance company is the one who gets to decide what expenses are "reasonable and necessary" but unreasonable determinations can be challenged in Court. Medical expenses include charges for doctors, hospitals, prescriptions, diagnostic tests, and durable medical equipment. Transportation and/or mileage expenses are not payable under this coverage. However, funeral expenses are covered under this coverage.

Disability income benefits are designed to assist someone who is unable to work due to injuries received in an accident. It is not designed to replace your income. The statutory minimum benefits are $140 per week or 70% of your salary whichever is less. This is a good place to purchase additional coverage since it is very difficult to live on a maximum of $560 per month if you have a significantly higher salary.

Accidental Death Benefits also have a statutory minimum of $5,000 per person per accident. This benefits is payable to the Estate of a person who died because of injuries received in an auto accident. This also includes someone who dies within one year of the accident because of injuries received in the accident. The funeral expenses would be payable under the medical payments coverage of the policy.

One of the provisions of "no fault" coverage is that the insurance company that pays these benefits is entitled to get its money back from the party that was at fault in the accident. This is known as subrogation. If you are the one at fault in the accident, then the benefits do not have to be paid back by you. However, if you are injured because of someone else's negligence, your insurance company has the right to recover the amount of benefits paid from the negligent person's insurance coverage.

Some people try to avoid using their "no fault" coverage because they don't understand how the process works. Instead people will havethe bills filed on their health insurance coverage. This is probably not the best option available. In Arkansas, medical payments coverage is the primary coverage and health insurance carriers can deny payment until you prove that your medical payments coverage has been exhausted. Also, most health insurance carriers have a co-payment requirement which increases your out of pocket expenses.

In order to make a claim on your "no fault" coverage, you need to notify your insurance agent that you were involved in an accident and that you were injured. Be sure to ask him or her to file a loss report with the claims office. If you are represented, be sure to ask if your medical payments claim will be handled from your lawyer's office. If so, all you need to do now is cooperate with your attorney by sending everything you receive regarding the accident to your lawyer.

If you do not have an attorney, then you will need to handle your "no fault" claim yourself. After your insurance company has been notified of the claim, you will probably receive a letter from the claims adjuster handling your file. The letter will have the claim number assigned to your file. Be sure to use this number on all correspondence to the insurance company. Also, from this point on, be sure that all bills are sent to the claims adjuster and not your insurance agent.

Once the company has received a bill and the corresponding record, they have thirty days to make payment or to advise the reason for nonpayment. Be sure to respond promptly to any requests for additional information. By cooperating with your insurance carrier, you will ensure that your bills are paid promptly. If your insurance company unreasonably refuses to pay a properly documented and supported medical bill, you have the right to challenge the nonpayment in Court.

Using your "no fault" coverage is one way to help reduce the disruption an auto accident can cause in your life because it allows you to receive the medical treatment you need without requiring you to pay for the treatment out of your pocket. It is worth the small amount of money you will probably pay to have this kind of protection. Please review your policy with your insurance agent today and add these valuable coverages to your policy.