We contacted the Kentucky Office of Insurance. Their response was that it depends on who owns the taxi cab as to how medical bills are dealt with if you are a passenger that is injured in an accident while riding in a cab.

The KY insurance regulator's office noted that KRS 304.39-080(4) states that the US and its public agencies "and any other state, its political subdivisions, municipal corporation, and public agencies may provide security. This allows cab companies that are owned by city or county governments the option of providing coverage or not. A good example is a public transportation entity like TARC, owned by the city of Louisville, which does not provide PIP coverage. Injured passengers would have to either seek basic PIP from their own policies, or if they did not have their own they would be entitled to present a claim to the Assigned Claims plan.

For an independent cab company, owned as a private corporation, basic PIP must still be provided for guest passengers. As with any type of PIP coverage, if the injured party has rejected their tort limitations, no coverage would have to be provided. Many cab companies require their drivers to reject, so only coverage for passengers can be purchased. Basic PIP, for other than a governmental entity discussed above, always follows the car as primary coverage. Also noted is that added PIP follows the insured, not the vehicle.

Section 281.655 of the Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS) is titled bond or insurance policy. In subsection 12 it states that the minimum amounts of insurance to be carried on each taxicab shall be liability coverage of not less than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for all damages arising out of bodily injury sustained by any one (1) person, and not less than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for all damages arising out of bodily injury sustained by all persons injured as a result of any one (1) accident, plus liability coverage of not less than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for all damages arising out of damage to or destruction of property, including the loss of use thereof, as a result of any one (1) accident arising out of ownership, maintenance, use, loading, or unloading of the insured vehicle.

If you need more information on PIP coverage when traveling as a passenger of a taxicab in Kentucky contact the KY Office of Insurance for their consumer help and advice.