Exhausted Benefits
This is a term commonly used which signifies that a portion of your policies limit has been reached. For example: if your limits under the PIP portion of your policy is $10,000.00, once that amount is paid by your insurance carrier, then your PIP benefits are exhausted. Your insurance company is then no longer responsible for paying your medical bills under that portion of the policy. Generally, in auto insurance policies, all sections have limits. Thus, it is advised that you look closely at your policy when purchasing it to know what limits you have under each section.
Examination Under Oath
Most insurance policies have a “cooperation” clause. What this means, is that if you wish to receive the benefits for which you have paid, you must cooperate with your insurance company’s (not third party insurance companies) investigation of the claim. Thus, if they require that you give a “statement under oath”, that is recorded, you must comply. (Consult with your attorney about your legal rights if this should happen)
Sometimes insurance companies want more than a simple recorded statement. They will actually want you to go to a Court Reporters office, be sworn in under oath and have a Court Reporter take down every word you say. This is better known as an “examination under oath” and it is available for you to have a lawyer present. They ask you questions about your case, your treatment, what happened and numerable other questions. Examinations under Oath can last anywhere from 1 hour to 8 hours. It all depends on what type of investigation your insurance carrier is doing. Some plaintiff’s believe that this is a form of harassment while others believe it is simply a form of properly investigating the case.
PIP/UM Recorded Statements
As I stated above, insurance carriers put in their contracts a “cooperation clause” which means that you must cooperate with any investigation. Sometimes they request a less formal investigation which is known as a “recorded statement”. This is simply a time when they can appear in person or ask you questions over the phone and they record your statement regarding the crash, treatment, injuries or anything regarding how the crash took place or the treatment you received.
