I have limited tort. Can I still recover for pain and suffering after a Pennsylvania car crash?

Last updated October 4, 2026.

Sometimes. With limited tort you can always claim your medical bills, lost wages and other out-of-pocket losses from the driver who caused the crash. You can claim pain and suffering only if the injury is a "serious injury" (death, serious impairment of a body function or permanent serious disfigurement) or one of the exceptions in 75 Pa.C.S. 1705(d) applies, such as a crash caused by a drunk driver who is convicted or accepts ARD.

Most Pennsylvania drivers made this choice years ago on an insurance form and have not looked at it since. This page explains what it means after a crash. Our other injury work is on our personal injury page. How we investigate crashes is described on our car accident page.

How does a Pennsylvania car crash claim work, step by step?

Pennsylvania's Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law sets up two layers: your own insurance pays certain benefits first, whoever was at fault, and then a claim can be made against the at-fault driver. Your tort option decides what that second claim can include.

1. Your own policy pays first-party benefits. Every auto policy must include at least $5,000 in medical benefits (75 Pa.C.S. 1711(a)). Insurers must offer more, including medical benefits up to at least $100,000 and income loss benefits up to at least $2,500 a month to $50,000 (1715(a)). Benefits are claimed in a priority order, starting with the policy on which you are a named insured (1713(a)).
2. Your insurer must pay promptly. Benefits are overdue if not paid within 30 days after the insurer receives reasonable proof, and overdue benefits carry 12 percent annual interest (1716).
3. You claim against the at-fault driver. That claim is paid by the other driver's liability insurance. The legal minimum is $15,000 for one person's injuries and $30,000 per accident (1702, "financial responsibility").
4. Benefits already paid are not claimed twice. You cannot recover from the at-fault driver the amounts your own first-party coverage paid or must pay (1722), and your insurer has no right to be reimbursed from your recovery for those benefits (1720).
5. Your tort option decides pain and suffering. Full tort keeps the right to seek compensation for "noneconomic loss," defined as pain and suffering and other nonmonetary detriment (1702, 1705(c)). Limited tort keeps economic loss but bars noneconomic loss unless an exception applies (1705(d)).
6. Uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage fills gaps. If the other driver has no insurance or not enough, your UM or UIM coverage may pay, if you bought it (1731). A person bound by limited tort cannot recover noneconomic damages through UM or UIM coverage either (1731(d)(2)).

Claims against the other driver must be filed in court within two years; claims against your own insurer for unpaid benefits within four years. Our page on injury lawsuit deadlines explains both clocks.

How do limited tort and full tort compare?

When does someone with limited tort keep full tort rights?

Section 1705(d) lists situations where a limited tort policyholder recovers as if full tort had been chosen. They apply automatically when the facts fit:

• A serious injury. The statute defines it as "a personal injury resulting in death, serious impairment of body function or permanent serious disfigurement" (1702). Whether an injury qualifies is often the main dispute in a limited tort case, and it turns on the medical evidence.
• A drunk or drugged driver. The person at fault is convicted of, or accepts Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition for, driving under the influence in that accident (1705(d)(1)(i)). Our page on DUI crashes that injure someone covers how those criminal cases proceed.
• An out-of-state vehicle. The person at fault was operating a motor vehicle registered in another state (1705(d)(1)(ii)).
• An intentional injury. The person at fault intended to injure himself or another person (1705(d)(1)(iii)).
• An uninsured driver. The person at fault did not maintain the required financial responsibility, subject to the UM limitation in 1731(d)(2) (1705(d)(1)(iv)).
• A vehicle defect. Claims against a business that designed, manufactured, repaired or serviced the vehicle, for a defect it caused or failed to correct (1705(d)(2)).
• Riding in a different kind of vehicle. Full tort rights apply if you were hurt while an occupant of a motor vehicle other than a "private passenger motor vehicle" (1705(d)(3)), a term that covers four-wheel passenger cars and similar light vehicles not used commercially (1702). Passengers on a bus or in a commercial truck are the usual examples.

Two more rules decide who is bound in the first place. A person who does not own a registered vehicle and is not a named insured or household insured under any auto policy is not limited at all (1705(b)(3)). And when two policies with different tort options apply to the same person, the option on the policy of the vehicle the person was riding in controls, if the person is insured on it; otherwise full tort applies (1705(b)(2)).

What changes the answer?

• How the election was made. Insurers must give a standard notice describing both options. Limited tort is chosen by signing the form; if no choice is made after a first and a second notice, the law presumes full tort (1705(a)(1) and (3)). Ask the insurer for the signed election form.
• An uninsured owner. The owner of a registered private passenger vehicle who has no insurance is deemed to have chosen limited tort (1705(a)(5)), and cannot collect first-party benefits (1714).
• Your share of fault. Your own negligence reduces any recovery and can bar it above 50 percent; see comparative negligence in Pennsylvania.
• A death. A fatal injury is a serious injury by definition, so limited tort does not limit a family's wrongful death claim for that reason; see wrongful death and survival actions.
• The coverage you bought. Low first-party limits and rejected UM or UIM coverage leave gaps that a tort claim may or may not fill. Rejection forms must meet strict requirements, and if the insurer cannot produce a valid one, the coverage equals the bodily injury limits (1731(c.1)).

For example: two crashes on the same road

Here is a hypothetical. A Havertown driver with a limited tort policy is rear-ended twice in the same year. Both times she has neck and back pain that improves with physical therapy over several months, and both times her own policy pays her first-party medical benefits.

In the first crash, the other driver is a Pennsylvania resident with valid insurance who was simply distracted. Her claim against him covers her unpaid medical costs and lost wages above what her own policy paid. Whether she can also claim pain and suffering depends on whether her injury rises to a "serious impairment of body function," which her doctors' records will have to support.

In the second crash, the other driver is arrested for DUI and later accepts ARD in that case. Under 1705(d)(1)(i), she now recovers as if she had full tort, so pain and suffering is part of her claim even if the injury is not "serious." The same would be true if the car that hit her had been registered in Delaware or New Jersey. The difference between the two claims is the exception, not the injury. This example only illustrates the statute and does not predict any result.

Crashes like these are common here. PennDOT's 2025 Crash Facts and Statistics book counts 4,351 reportable crashes in Delaware County in 2025, including 2,004 injury crashes. Local court and crash information is in our Delaware County overview.

What mistakes do people make with limited tort?

• Assuming limited tort means no claim. Economic losses are always recoverable, and the exceptions are broad.
• Not checking the other driver's plates and the criminal case. An out-of-state registration or a DUI conviction or ARD changes everything, and both are easy to miss.
• Stopping treatment early or leaving gaps. Whether an injury is "serious" is proved with medical records. Gaps make that harder.
• Guessing which option they chose. Ask for the signed form; the presumption is full tort if none was signed.
• Forgetting household policies. A relative's policy, or the policy on the car you were riding in, may change your tort status and your benefits.
• Not sending medical bills to their own insurer. First-party benefits pay first, and the 30-day payment rule only starts once the insurer has reasonable proof.

What should I do this week?

1. Report the crash to your own insurer and open a first-party benefits claim.
2. Ask your insurer for your declarations page and the signed tort election form.
3. Write down the other vehicle's plate and state of registration.
4. Get the police report and note whether the other driver was charged with DUI.
5. Follow your doctor's treatment plan and keep every record and bill.
6. Keep a short daily note of pain, limits on work and activities you cannot do.
7. Book a consultation before giving a recorded statement to the other driver's insurer.

Frequently asked questions

Does my limited tort choice bind my family?

Yes. The election applies to all insureds under the policy who are not named insureds on another policy, which includes a spouse, other relatives and minors living in the household (1705(b)(2) and (f)).

Can I switch to full tort after the crash?

A new election applies going forward once the insurer receives a properly signed form (1705(b)(1)). It does not change the option in place on the day of the crash.

Does limited tort apply to a truck crash?

The tort option applies to claims against the at-fault driver, including a truck driver. If you were an occupant of a commercial vehicle yourself, you may keep full tort rights under 1705(d)(3). Our truck accident page covers those cases.

I was hit as a pedestrian and do not own a car. Am I limited?

Not if you are not a named insured or household insured under any auto policy (1705(b)(3)). Your medical benefits may come from a household relative's policy or the policy on a vehicle involved in the accident, under the order in 1713(a).

What counts as "serious impairment of body function"?

The statute does not list injuries. It is decided case by case from the medical evidence, which is why careful records matter. Life-changing injuries are discussed on our catastrophic injuries page.

Can my insurer cancel my policy because I chose full tort?

No. An insurer may not cancel, refuse to write or refuse to renew a policy based on the tort option election (1705(e)).

Call Giribaldi Law at (610) 891-8303 or contact us online for a free consultation about your car crash claim. Evening and weekend appointments are available, and hospital visits can be arranged.