Your Rights After a Car Accident in Kentucky

On This Page

1

Car Crashes in Kentucky: The Numbers Behind the Rights

Why Rights Matter More Than You Think

2

Your Right to Choose Your Own Doctor

What PIP Covers Under KRS 304.39

3

Your Right to Refuse a Recorded Statement

4

Your Right to Reject a Lowball Offer

5

Your PIP Rights Under KRS 304.39

6

Your UM and UIM Rights After a Crash

Your Own Insurer Must Deal With You in Good Faith

7

Your Right to Attorney Representation From Day One

Get Back To Living Your Best Life

Car Crashes in Kentucky: The Numbers Behind the Rights

These rights matter because crashes happen every day in this state. Kentucky State Police data for 2024 shows 707 people killed and 29,265 people injured on public roads in a single year. That is one injury roughly every 18 minutes.

The financial toll is just as serious. TRIP estimates that fatal and serious crashes in Kentucky in 2024 caused $29.7 billion in total societal harm, including $7.4 billion in economic costs. Kentucky’s 2024 traffic fatality rate of 1.45 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled was the ninth highest in the nation, well above the national rate of 1.2.

And nearly one in five drivers on Kentucky roads carries no insurance at all. Kentucky has the sixth-highest uninsured driver rate in the country at 18.7 percent. That reality makes knowing your UM and UIM rights essential, not optional.

Your Right to Choose Your Own Doctor

One of the most misunderstood rights in Kentucky is the right to pick your own treating physician. Insurance adjusters sometimes suggest approved providers or push for independent medical exams early in a claim. You are not required to see their doctor for your treatment.

The Kentucky Motor Vehicle Reparations Act says that if treatment is medically necessary and related to injuries from the crash, your PIP carrier owes coverage for those bills. The statute does not require you to use any specific provider, network, or pre-authorization system for your medical care. You choose your doctor. Period.

This matters because the doctor you see shapes the documentation of your injuries. A physician unfamiliar with crash-related injuries may not capture the full picture. You have every right to seek out a doctor who understands your injuries and will document them thoroughly.

Your Right to Refuse a Recorded Statement

Within hours of a crash, the at-fault driver’s insurance company may call asking for a recorded statement. Many people assume this is required. It is not.

You have no contractual relationship with the other driver’s insurer. They are not your insurance company. They have no legal right to demand a recorded statement from you, and you are under no obligation to give one. As Kentucky law makes clear under KRS 304.12-230, insurers must conduct thorough investigations using all available information. They process claims every day using police reports, medical records, photographs, and witness statements. Your recorded words are not required.

Recorded statements are used to lock you into a version of events before you know the full extent of your injuries. A simple phrase like “I’m okay” or “I didn’t see it coming” can be used to minimize your claim later. You can politely decline and direct all communication through your attorney. The insurer cannot legally deny your claim simply because you exercised that right.

Your Right to Reject a Lowball Offer

You are never required to accept the first settlement offer you receive. In fact, the first offer from an insurance company is almost never the final or best number.

Insurance companies are for-profit businesses. Their adjusters are trained to offer settlements that close files quickly and cheaply. Initial offers regularly fail to account for future medical costs, long-term wage loss, and the full value of pain and suffering.

Kentucky law protects you from this practice. Under KRS 304.12-230, Kentucky’s Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act, it is an unlawful practice for an insurer to offer “substantially less than the amounts ultimately recovered” in an effort to force litigation. If an insurer knows your claim is worth $75,000 and offers $10,000, that pattern can support a bad-faith claim.

You have the right to counter. You have the right to demand a full explanation of any denial. You have the right to let time pass while your medical treatment concludes before you settle. And you have the right to take the case to a jury if the insurer refuses to offer a number that reflects your actual losses.

Your PIP Rights Under KRS 304.39

Kentucky is a “choice no-fault” state. That means every standard auto policy issued in Kentucky includes at least $10,000 in PIP coverage by default under KRS 304.39-030. You can reject PIP in writing, but if you did not, you have these protections:

PIP pays your medical bills and a portion of your lost wages without requiring you to prove the other driver was at fault. Under KRS 304.39-040, covered expenses include hospital care, physician services, diagnostic testing, rehabilitation, and medically necessary treatment. Wage loss benefits cover up to 85 percent of lost income, subject to statutory caps. Replacement services for household tasks you can no longer perform are also covered.

You have the right to direct how PIP pays among different categories of loss. If you want medical bills paid first before wage loss, you can designate that in writing. Insurers who delay or wrongfully deny PIP benefits can be subject to interest and penalties under Kentucky law.

If PIP coverage is unavailable or cannot be identified after a crash, eligible people may seek benefits through the Kentucky Assigned Claims Plan under KRS 304.39-160 and KRS 304.39-170.

Your UM and UIM Rights After a Crash

Given that nearly 1 in 5 Kentucky drivers carries no insurance, your uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage may be your most important protection after a serious crash.

Under KRS 304.20-020, Kentucky insurers must offer UM coverage at limits equal to your liability coverage unless you reject it in writing. If you did not sign a written rejection, you have UM coverage. UM pays your legally recoverable damages when the at-fault driver has no insurance, including medical bills, lost income, and non-economic losses tied to your injuries.

Underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage applies when the at-fault driver’s policy limits are not enough to cover your full losses. Under KRS 304.39-320, insurers must make UIM available to you upon request. If your damages exceed the at-fault driver’s policy limits, your UIM coverage can pay the balance up to your selected limit.

Kentucky also allows “stacking” of UM and UIM coverage in many cases. If you paid separate premiums for coverage on more than one vehicle, you may be able to combine those limits. Kentucky courts have struck down anti-stacking clauses in policies where separate premiums were paid. More coverage may be available than you think.

Your Right to Attorney Representation From Day One

You have the right to hire an attorney before you speak to any insurance company, before you sign anything, and before you accept any offer. That right exists from the moment the crash happens.

This is not just a procedural right. It is a practical protection. Insurance companies respond differently when they know an attorney is involved. They are less likely to use delay tactics, less likely to pursue lowball offers, and more likely to conduct a full investigation of the claim. The attorney-client relationship does not begin when the case settles. It begins when you make the call.

At Sam Aguiar Injury Lawyers, every client is assigned a dedicated team of three: an attorney, a case manager, and a file coordinator. You do not pay anything unless and until there is a recovery. That is what $0 Out-Of-Pocket Forever means in practice.