If you’ve been in an accident in a no-fault insurance state, this can affect how your personal injury claim plays out. There are 12 no-fault states where drivers must use their car insurance to pay for their injuries after a crash.
The 12 states that have no-fault insurance laws are Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Utah. Drivers can choose to opt out of a no-fault policy in Kentucky, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
What Is No-Fault Insurance
Drivers in these 12 no-fault states can’t rely on the other drivers’ car insurance coverage to pay for their injuries after an accident. This is true even if the other driver was negligent. Drivers in no-fault states are required to have personal injury protection to cover their injuries after a crash.
Even though your accident occurred in a no-fault state, the at-fault driver still has to pay for your property damages. Experienced auto accident lawyers can help you recover your property damages through a civil lawsuit or insurance claim.
How Can a No-Fault State Affect Your Claim?
No-fault states require drivers to have a minimum amount of bodily injury and property damage liability coverage. After a car accident, no-fault state drivers should file a claim with their own insurance company for the costs of their injuries. In both no-fault and at-fault states, drivers have to carry a minimum amount of property damage liability coverage.
In no-fault states, injured drivers may only be able to sue for damages when their injuries are considered severe. This generally means you can only file a suit against the negligent party if your injury costs exceed a certain threshold.
No-Fault Car Insurance vs. At-Fault Insurance
In an at-fault state, the driver who causes an accident pays for the injuries and property damage of the victim. In at-fault states, you can file a claim with the at-fault driver’s insurance to cover the cost of your medical bills and injuries.
Injury claims tend to take longer in at-fault states than in no-fault ones because insurers have to determine fault to decide which driver’s insurance company is responsible for paying damages.
No-Fault Insurance Coverage
No-fault insurance is mandatory in some states. No-fault coverage pays medical expenses for a person and their family, the passengers in their vehicle, and any pedestrians injured in an accident.
No-fault states with monetary thresholds require that the value of the claim reach a specific dollar threshold before qualifying for non-economic damages like pain and suffering. If you’re unsure whether or not your injuries meet this threshold, speak with a personal injury law specialist.
Is No-Fault Car Insurance Optional?
No-fault car insurance is mandatory in a dozen states. Three states follow a “choice” no-fault system. Each state offers some form of no-fault or PIP insurance as an add-on to other car insurance policies.
Car Accident Lawsuits and No-Fault States
Even in no-fault car insurance states, injured drivers and passengers are allowed to file third-party insurance claims and car accident lawsuits against at-fault drivers when either of the following are met:
- The accident caused significant injury, as defined by state law
- The accident resulted in medical bills above a certain dollar threshold
The Serious Injury Threshold
The threshold is a way for car accident victims who have suffered extensive damages to seek recompense outside the no-fault system by filing a personal injury lawsuit. If you’re injured in a car accident in a no-fault state, you are only allowed to file a claim against your insurance.
Serious injury can be defined as a personal injury which results in one of the following:
- Death
- Dismemberment
- Significant disfigurement
- Fracture
- Loss of a fetus
- Permanent loss of use of a body organ, member, function, or system
- Permanent consequential limitation of a body organ or member
- A significant limitation of the use of a body function or system
- Medically determined injury or impairment of a non-permanent nature that prevents the injured person from performing substantially all of the material acts which constitute such person’s usual and customary daily activities
The Monetary Threshold
In no-fault auto insurance, a monetary threshold is based on a person’s degree of injury as measured by dollars of medical cost incurred. This amount must be reached before a suit can be pursued.
