Insurance Agent & Broker Portland Oregon

All Oregon auto policies contain "PIP" insurance coverage, or Personal Injury Protection coverage. Your Oregon PIP insurance coverage includes the following benefits:

1. Medical & hospital expenses
2. Income continuation benefits
3. Loss of services expenses
4. Funeral expenses
5. Child care expenses

When clients have been involved in an accident the first question I ask is, "How are you feeling" & "Do you need to seek medical treatment?" Most drivers are unaware but your Oregon PIP insurance coverage is the first coverage applied to get your medical expenses paid after you have been involved in an accident. The Oregon state minimum PIP limit is $15,000 for payment of your medical and hospital expenses, the coverage will provide treatment for up to 52 weeks after a reported accident.

In addition to the payment of medical and hospital expenses under PIP insurance coverage you have income continuation protection. This coverage is typically 70% of your loss of income from work during a period of disability, provided that:
a. You were employed at the time of the accident
b. Your disability continues for at least 14 days

Your PIP insurance coverage also includes Loss of services expenses. This benefit will pay for expenses reasonably incurred during a period of disability for essential services performed by a person not realted to you, the insured, or residing in your, the insureds, household. For example, after the accident you are unable to clean your house or do your laundry, this benefit will pay for these services.

PIP insurance coverage will provide reasonable and necessary expenses for funeral services incurred within one year after the date of the accident.

Child care expenses include those expenses incurred for child care beginning 24 hours after the hospitalization of you, the insured, and continuing until you, the insured, is able to either:
a. Return to work; or
b. Perform essential services

Most insurance policies will have the Oregon state minimum limit of $15,000 although you can increase your PIP insurance coverage limit up to  either $25,000 or $50,000 at a nominal cost.  As reported in an earlier blog post Under ORS 742.524(1)(b), a PIP eligible claimant who is usually engaged in a remunerative occupation (i.e., a job that pays), but is unable to perform that occupation for at least 14 days because of a motor vehicle accident, is allowed to receive 70% of his or her lost income or $1,250 per month, whichever is less. In April 2009, the Oregon Legislature and Governor Kulongoski, via HB 2326, changed the maximum monthly recoverable amount from $1,250 per month to $3,000 per month. Thus, the yearly maximum will increase from $15,000 to $36,000.

A recent change to Oregon law significantly increases the maximum amount of lost income a PIP eligible claimant may recover. The new law also increases the minimum amount of property damage coverage that all automobile policies must carry.

Under ORS 742.524(1)(b), a PIP eligible claimant who is usually engaged in a remunerative occupation (i.e., a job that pays), but is unable to perform that occupation for at least 14 days because of a motor vehicle accident, is allowed to receive 70% of his or her lost income or $1,250 per month, whichever is less. In April 2009, the Oregon Legislature and Governor Kulongoski, via HB 2326, changed the maximum monthly recoverable amount from $1,250 per month to $3,000 per month.  Thus, the yearly maximum will increase from $15,000 to $36,000.

This new law also impacts ORS 806.070(2)(c), Oregon's Financial Responsibility Law. The current law requires all automobile insurance policies carry at least $10,000 in liability coverage for “injury to or destruction of the property of others in any one accident.”  HB 2326 increases the required minimum amount of acceptable coverage from $10,000 to $20,000.

Both of these changes will affect all motor vehicle insurance policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2010.

One of my clients recently contacted me saying that he was driving in a rental car and asked how his auto coverage protects him while he rents the car. Here is how your auto coverage will cover you with an auto rental:

Your policy will pay for damage to a rental car if you carry Collision on your vehicle. If you do carry collision and you are involved in an accident you would still have to pay the deductible then the insurance company would pick up the remainder of the repair costs. Your policy does not cover ‘Loss Damage'; this is when the rental car companies charge you for loss of rental income while the car is being repaired. Most rental car companies provide you an option to purchase this coverage. Again, your personal auto policy will not cover this. You might want to look at the wording of your credit card contract to find out if they provide some coverage as some credit card companies will cover this although it is very limited coverage for the downtime of the rental vehicle. The only way to protect your self from this is to purchase the "Loss Damage Waiver" or their "Collision" coverage.

Today's auto insurance pricing model has been considered inefficient by many as the traditional factors that contribute to your Oregon auto insurance rate such as driver characteristics (age, gender, marital status, & address), your vehicle usage, your driving record, and your insurance bureau score do not correctly assess the true risk of a driver.

It's common sense that the more time a vehicle spends on the road the more it is prone to a loss rather than when it is sitting in the garage, right? Well the data collected by insurance companies suggests this and those individuals who are low mileage drivers often subsidize insurance costs for high mileage drivers.

The alternative to the traditional auto insurance pricing model is known as ‘pay as you drive auto insurance' or what is also called ‘usage based auto insurance'. With ‘pay as you drive' auto insurance the price of auto insurance is tied to the number of miles driven. Those individuals who drive more will be charged a higher premium. Other rating factors such as location, age, vehicle type, and driving record are still incorporated into this price, so higher-risk drivers would pay more per mile than lower-risk drivers. For many years there has been great interest and demand for ‘pay as you drive auto insurance' and until recently the technology behind the effort to get ‘pay as you drive' auto insurance into place was not reliable and was also too costly to manage.

It's always difficult for parents to grasp the cost of when they add their newly licensed teenager onto their auto policy. Prior to my advising the parent of the premium I always suggest a bus pass would be a better gift than a set of car keys. As a rule of thumb we always advise that whatever your monthly premium is you can expect your premium to go up anywhere between $100 - $200 additional per month. That's no joke. The reason for the increase in the cost is purely based on the statistics on how this age group operates a motor vehicle. You need to consider these facts that are provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teens in the U.S.

Each year, more than 5,000 teens (ages 16-20) are killed in-passenger vehicle crashes.

During 2006, a teen died in a traffic crash an average of once every hour on weekends and nearly once every two hours during the week.

Nationally in 2006, 25 percent of the young drivers ages 15-20 who were killed in crashes had Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels of .08 or higher at the time of the crash.

Nationally in 2006, 4,842 teen passenger vehicle occupants, ages 16 to 20, were killed in motor vehicle crashes, and 58 percent (2,813) were unrestrained at the time of the fatal crash.

There are discounts available to help save ou on the cost for your teenage driver. Check out the How your Oregon premium rates are determined page to see the discounts that would be available.

Oregon's Department of Motor Vehicles has put into place new requirements for those applying for and renewing driver's licenses. Whether you're applying for an Oregon driver license, instruction permit or ID card for the first time, renewing an expiring card or just replacing a lost card, you'll need to meet several new requirements that take effect July 1.

Under a new state law passed by the Oregon Legislature, everyone who applies for a first-time, renewal, or replacement driver license, instruction permit or ID card must provide documents that:

• Prove U.S. citizenship or lawful presence in the country - such as a birth certificate, U.S. passport or foreign passport with U.S. immigration documents.
• Prove full legal name - such as birth certificate; or a combination of documents that creates a link proving current legal name, such as a birth certificate and government-issued marriage certificate.
• Prove Social Security number - such as Social Security card, employment document or a tax document - if the applicant is eligible for one.
• Or prove that the applicant is not eligible for a Social Security number - such as immigration documents that do not grant permission to work in the United States.

For additional details visit http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/DMV/news/id_news.shtml

Purchasing the auto insurance that is right for you can be confusing, especially for first-time buyers. By learning the basics on how to get the most for your money, you can save on your auto insurance and feel confident you have adequate coverage. Below are some tips that can help you save money on your auto insurance.

• Be a safe driver. Drivers with good driving records can save as much as 60 percent over drivers who cause accidents.
• Enroll in a driving class. Drivers who complete a state-approved defensive driving course, or drivers under the age of 21 who take a driver training course, could qualify for savings.
• Buy a car that includes safety features such as anti-lock brakes, alarms or other security features, airbags, and automatic seat belts.
• Choose a higher deductible (what you pay before your insurance policy kicks in), which can mean paying less for your policy.
• Eliminate unnecessary coverages. If you drive an older car with little cash value, consider eliminating “collision” or “comprehensive” coverage, which pays for damage to or theft of your car.
• Insure more than one car with the same company, and you may be eligible for savings.
• Insure your car and home with the same company. You could save money if you have more than one type of policy with the same insurance company (for example, an auto policy and a homeowners policy). The more good business you give the company, the more valuable you are as a customer.
• Look for low-mileage discounts if you car pool or do not put a lot of miles on your car annually.
• Check for student discounts such as a good student credit for maintaining a B average, or if a driver in your household is living away at school and not driving as much.
• Buy a safer car that will cost less to repair and less to insure. Check crash-test reports, repair records and manufacturer recalls of any car you are considering. A consumer protection magazine can be very useful or check car sites on the Internet.