Both bodily injury liability (BIL) insurance and medical payments (MedPay) insurance pay for the costs of your injury treatment after a car accident. The key difference is that every vehicle owner in North Carolina is required to carry BIL, which pays for the costs of injuries resulting from an accident the policyholder caused. MedPay coverage is an optional supplement, which pays for the costs of injuries to yourself or passengers regardless of who was at-fault for an accident.
MedPay acts as a “first payer” after an accident, meaning it provides the first round of coverage for damages, up to its policy limit. Once the MedPay policy limit is reached, the injury victim can seek compensation through other types of insurance claims, including BIL claims against any at-fault drivers. MedPay insurance is also handy because it can cover your passengers, and it can also cover you in many contexts outside of times you are driving. For instance, if you are hurt in someone else’s vehicle during a collision or hurt during a bicycle accident, there is the possibility that your MedPay policy will cover it.
Because BIL insurance is mandatory in most states, more people are familiar with it, and far more people tend to have it compared to MedPay coverage. However, obtaining MedPay coverage can be beneficial since it can cover you in a variety of situations, regardless of who was at fault for your accident.