Do You Need Your Own Car Insurance to Bring a Passenger Injury Claim in Pennsylvania?

Attorney Answer

No. Pennsylvania does not require you to carry insurance in order to bring a claim as an injured passenger. What your insurance status does affect is what you can recover, and that turns on one question: do you own a registered car?

There are three situations, and the statute treats each one differently.

1. You don't own a registered car, and nobody's policy covers you. Then you keep full rights. 75 Pa.C.S. § 1705(b)(3) says:

An individual who is not an owner of a currently registered private passenger motor vehicle and who is not a named insured or insured under any private passenger motor vehicle policy shall not be precluded from maintaining an action for noneconomic loss or economic loss sustained in a motor vehicle accident as the consequence of the fault of another person pursuant to applicable tort law.

2. You own a currently registered car but had no insurance on it. Then two things follow. Under § 1705(a)(5) you are treated as having limited tort:

An owner of a currently registered private passenger motor vehicle who does not have financial responsibility shall be deemed to have chosen the limited tort alternative.

And under 75 Pa.C.S. § 1714 you lose first-party benefits:

An owner of a currently registered motor vehicle who does not have financial responsibility or an operator or occupant of a recreational vehicle not intended for highway use, motorcycle, motor-driven cycle, motorized pedalcycle or like type vehicle required to be registered under this title cannot recover first party benefits.

Limited tort still lets you recover economic loss, such as medical bills and lost wages. It bars pain and suffering unless the injury is a “serious injury” or another exception applies, under § 1705(d).

3. You are covered by a policy, your own or a household member's. Then that policy's tort option generally applies to you, under § 1705(b)(2). Your first-party benefits also come from it first, under 75 Pa.C.S. § 1713(a):

Except as provided in section 1714 (relating to ineligible claimants), a person who suffers injury arising out of the maintenance or use of a motor vehicle shall recover first party benefits against applicable insurance coverage in the following order of priority:

The list begins with the policy on which you are the named insured, then a policy covering you as an insured, and then the policy on the vehicle you were riding in.

One exception helps some passengers. If the vehicle you were in was not a private passenger vehicle, such as a bus or a work truck, § 1705(d)(3) provides:

An individual otherwise bound by the limited tort election shall retain full tort rights if injured while an occupant of a motor vehicle other than a private passenger motor vehicle.

What you can do

1. Tell your lawyer, or the insurer handling your claim, whether you own any registered vehicle and whether anyone in your household has an auto policy.

2. If a household policy exists, get a copy of its declarations page; it shows the tort option.

3. Keep your medical bills and records together.

4. Even if you are handling this yourself, you would be best served by a brief phone consultation with a local Pennsylvania attorney before you act. Most lawyers offer a short initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts — and on how your court actually handles this — is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. An injury claim must be filed within two years under 42 Pa.C.S. § 5524, which covers “An action to recover damages for injuries to the person or for the death of an individual caused by the wrongful act or neglect or unlawful violence or negligence of another.”