Don't waive medpay!!!

Increasingly, a disturbing trend in our office is that victims of car accidents are finding out that they have waived the important "medpay" coverage mandated by current insurance law in Colorado. Amazingly, when asked about this "waiver'', many of our clients don't recall waiving anything on their auto insurance.

Here is the scoop: In 2009, Medpay became mandatory coverage in Colorado unless you waive it in writing. ANY TIME an insurance company wants you to waive anything, be absolutely sure you know what you are waiving. Right now, medpay is one of the best values on your policy, just like UM and UIM coverage discussed elsewhere on this blog. Don't waive it!

What if I already have insurance? Isn't it double coverage? NO. Medpay is designed to be primary to other insurance, meaning it pays first before your health insurance kicks in. Second, since you will generally have to pay back benefits paid under your health insurance when you collect from the at-fault driver, you want medpay to pay as much as possible before the health insurance bills begin to pile up. After all, the biggest plus of medpay is that you don't have to repay those benefits. In legal parlance, medpay benefits are non-subrogable-a good thing.

In our practice, we routinely make the insurance companies provide proof that a customer actually made a knowing waiver of medpay. In situations where they cannot provide this proof, usually a copy of our client's signature, we can often force the insurance companies to retroactively reform the insurance company to provide those benefits. If you feel like you were duped into waiving coverage you didn't understand, call John R. Fuller, P.C. to discuss your situation.