State guide

Pennsylvania Car Insurance

By YesWeSure EditorialReviewed October 1, 2026Editorial standardsReport an errorSources

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Pennsylvania drivers must carry at least 15/30/5 liability coverage under 75 Pa.C.S. Chapter 17 (Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law, enacted by Act 6 of 1990), with a $35,000 combined single limit permitted as an alternative¹⁶. Every private passenger policy must also include a $5,000 medical benefit under 75 Pa.C.S. § 1711³. UM and UIM must be offered and can be rejected only in writing on the statutorily prescribed form⁵. Pennsylvania is a choice no-fault state: the named insured elects Limited Tort or Full Tort under 75 Pa.C.S. § 1705, with full tort as the default on an unsigned election².

The 15/30/5 minimum: what it actually covers

75 Pa.C.S. Chapter 17 (enacted as Act 6 of 1990) requires every covered Pennsylvania driver to maintain at least 15/30/5 liability coverage, with a $35,000 combined single limit permitted as an alternative¹⁶. The three numbers refer to:

• $15,000 bodily injury per person. The maximum your policy pays for one injured person's medical bills, lost wages, and related bodily-injury costs when you are at fault.
• $30,000 bodily injury per accident. The maximum your policy pays across all injured people in one accident when you are at fault.
• $5,000 property damage per accident. The maximum your policy pays to repair or replace someone else's vehicle or other property.

These are the amounts a policy owes to other people you harm. They do not pay to repair your own vehicle after an at-fault accident (that is collision coverage), to replace it after theft or a weather event (comprehensive), or to cover your medical bills (that is the required $5,000 medical benefit under § 1711, your health insurance, or an optional income-loss or extraordinary-medical buy-up under § 1712). Modern vehicles routinely cost more than $5,000 in property damage, so many Pennsylvania drivers carry higher limits.

Required medical benefit ($5,000 under 75 Pa.C.S. § 1711)

Every Pennsylvania private passenger motor vehicle liability policy must include a $5,000 medical benefit³. The medical benefit is not called PIP in Pennsylvania; it is the required first-party medical layer within the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law. It pays reasonable and necessary medical expenses for the insured and specified occupants injured in a covered accident, regardless of fault, up to the policy limit.

How the $5,000 medical benefit sits next to health insurance and MedPay is covered in our medical payments coverage guide.

Uninsured / Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM): must be offered

75 Pa.C.S. § 1731 requires every Pennsylvania private passenger motor vehicle liability policy to offer both Uninsured Motorist (UM) and Underinsured Motorist (UIM) coverage. Purchase is optional; a driver who does not want either must reject the coverage in writing on the statutorily prescribed form. If a signed rejection is not on file, UM and UIM coverage defaults to the policy's bodily-injury liability limits⁵.

Minimum UM and UIM limits if purchased are 15/30 bodily injury plus $5,000 property damage. UM applies when the at-fault driver has no liability coverage. UIM applies when the at-fault driver has coverage but not enough to pay for the damage they caused⁵. Because a meaningful share of Pennsylvania drivers carry the minimum (or drive uninsured despite the law), UM and UIM are practically important coverage decisions rather than defensive footnotes.

Limited Tort vs Full Tort election (75 Pa.C.S. § 1705)

Pennsylvania is a choice no-fault state. The named insured must elect either Limited Tort or Full Tort before a private passenger policy is issued. Full tort is the default if the named insured does not sign a specific election².

• Full Tort. The named insured retains unrestricted rights to sue for all damages, including noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering, after an at-fault driver injures the insured. Premium is higher than under limited tort.
• Limited Tort. The named insured accepts a lower premium in exchange for restricted ability to sue for noneconomic damages. Economic damages (medical bills, lost wages, property damage) remain fully recoverable.

Limited tort does not apply (and the insured retains full tort recovery) when the injury meets the statutory serious-injury threshold or when a specific statutory carve-out applies: the at-fault driver was convicted of a DUI, the at-fault driver was uninsured, the at-fault vehicle was registered in another state, or the harm was intentional².

PennDOT verification and lapse enforcement

Pennsylvania does not operate a named verification program comparable to TexasSure (Texas), IIES (New York), or ILIVS (Illinois). Instead, Pennsylvania auto insurers report policy terminations electronically to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. The driver is responsible for continuous proof of coverage⁶⁷.

Operating a Pennsylvania-registered vehicle without the required insurance can result in a fine, driver license suspension, and forfeiture of the license plate and registration sticker⁶. The PennDOT Insurance Law Fact Sheet is the primary consumer-facing document on reinstatement steps⁷. For a general handling of lapse mechanics that applies across states, see our after-a-lapse guide.

Rating-factor landscape

Pennsylvania does not maintain a headline statewide prohibition on credit-based insurance scoring, gender, or age as personal-auto rating factors. Insurer rating is overseen by the Pennsylvania Insurance Department through rate filings⁶. For how insurers across states weigh individual factors, see our how insurers calculate rates guide.

Where the Pennsylvania situation rules live on YesWeSure

This State Guide owns the Pennsylvania pricing and legal framework. Situation-specific Pennsylvania mechanics already live on the sibling Situation guides:

• After an accident. Fault handling, carrier process, and surcharge mechanics are treated in our after-an-accident guide.
• After a DUI. Pennsylvania post-conviction financial-responsibility and reinstatement mechanics are treated in our after-a-DUI guide.
• After a lapse. PennDOT-driven consequences of a lapse in coverage are treated in our after-a-lapse guide.
• Moving into Pennsylvania. New-resident registration and the PennDOT proof flow are treated in our moving-to-another-state guide.

Where this applies on YesWeSure

Specific Pennsylvania topics are treated in detail on sibling pages. This State Guide carries the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law framework, including the full-tort vs limited-tort election; the following links go deeper on scenarios, coverage lines, and consumer questions commonly asked by Pennsylvania drivers.

• All personal-auto coverage lines explained in one page
• How insurance scoring works (permitted in Pennsylvania)
• The car insurance claim timeline
• Mechanical breakdown insurance (MBI) and how it differs from an extended warranty
• SR-22 under 75 Pa.C.S. § 1794, 3-year standard filing
• Is it illegal to drive without insurance? Pennsylvania consequences
• Stacked vs unstacked UM coverage, which Pennsylvania explicitly permits as the default under 75 Pa.C.S. § 1738
• At-fault accident rate-impact mechanics

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