Pennsylvania car insurance: limited vs full tort, low minimums and what a lapse costs

Limited tort or full tort: Pennsylvania's big choice

Pennsylvania is one of 3 choice no-fault states. Your own policy's medical benefits pay your crash-related medical bills regardless of fault, and the tort option decides what else you can recover from the driver who caused the crash.

The trade-off is about what happens after a crash that is not your fault. With limited tort, a painful injury that heals without meeting the legal exceptions may leave you with medical bills paid but no compensation for the pain itself. Our tort threshold and choice no-fault entries explain the terms, and no-fault vs at-fault states puts Pennsylvania in context.

Pennsylvania's low liability minimums

Pennsylvania's minimum liability coverage is $15,000 for injury or death of one person, $30,000 for everyone hurt in one accident and $5,000 for property damage. Some insurers offer a single combined limit of $35,000 that satisfies both. Those amounts are small next to the cost of a hospital stay or a newer car.

For example, if you cause a crash that totals a car worth $30,000 and you carry only the $5,000 property damage minimum, the other driver's insurer could pursue you for the remaining $25,000. Higher liability limits cost more but protect your savings and income. The coverage checklist can help you decide what to raise.

Medical benefits, UM/UIM and stacking

Medical benefits. Pennsylvania's version of PIP pays medical bills for you and others covered by your policy, whoever caused the crash. The minimum is $5,000, and higher limits are available. Optional first-party benefits include income loss, a funeral benefit, an accidental death benefit and extraordinary medical coverage for very large bills.

UM and UIM. Insurers must offer both, but you can reject each one by signing a separate rejection form. If the insurer cannot produce a valid signed rejection, the coverage applies at your bodily injury liability limits. An estimated 11.0% of Pennsylvania drivers were uninsured in 2023, below the national 15.4%.

Stacking. By law, UM/UIM is stacked unless you reject stacking. Stacking multiplies your per-vehicle limit by the number of vehicles on the policy, and it can let you collect under more than one policy. Rejecting it lowers your premium. See stacking for an illustration.

What happens if your Pennsylvania insurance lapses

Insurers must tell PennDOT when a policy is canceled. If you plan to stop insuring a vehicle, the steps that avoid trouble are:

1. Return the plate early. Send the registration plate and card to PennDOT within 30 days of the cancellation; that avoids the suspension.
2. Short lapse, car not driven. A lapse of 30 days or less does not lead to suspension if you prove the vehicle was not driven during the gap.
3. Otherwise, a suspension. The vehicle registration is suspended for 3 months.
4. Civil penalty option. Instead of serving the suspension, you can pay a $500 civil penalty plus a restoration fee, but only once in 12 months.

If you switch insurers, PennDOT is not automatically told about the new policy. Answer any PennDOT proof letter, because ignoring it also leads to suspension. Our car insurance lapse post compares lapse rules in other states.

Pennsylvania car insurance costs and road safety

Pennsylvania's average auto insurance expenditure was $1,154.57 a year in 2023, below the national $1,281. The combined average premium for liability, collision and comprehensive was $1,273.46, compared with $1,438 nationally. Prices still depend on where you live; the Philadelphia page looks at the state's largest city.

Older drivers have a specific discount: drivers aged 55 or older who complete a PennDOT-approved mature driver course get at least 5% off, renewed by a refresher course every 3 years. See senior drivers.

On the roads, Pennsylvania's crash death rate was 8.6 per 100,000 people in 2024, below the national 11.5 per 100,000 people. Speeding, though, was involved in 39% of deaths, above the national 29%.