Voluntary medical and property damage payments are available as a standard or available feature in many insurance policies. They exist to compensate persons who may be injured or have their property damaged as a result of the policy holder’s actions, or who are injured or have their property damaged on the policy holder’s premises.

These provisions are called voluntary because they are paid out at the sole direction of the policy holder. Payments can even be made if the policy holder is otherwise not legally responsible to provide compensation for the injury or property damage. Payments can be made even if the injured person or property owner is completely at fault.

In many instances, voluntary payments are the only form of compensation available to the persons receiving them. The costs would otherwise have to be borne entirely by the individuals involved. However, as it is in the interest of companies to pay out as little possible on such claims, it is common for voluntary payments to have strict related conditions.

An experienced personal injury lawyer can help policyholders negotiate with their insurance companies in order to allow access to the full amount of compensation they should be entitled to.