Limited tort is not a bar to the recovery of economic damages.
You have the same right to recover damages for your economic damages, such as unreimbursed medical expenses and lost income, as someone who carries full tort insurance in Pennsylvania. Thus, for your quantifiable damages you have nothing to overcome.
Yet, you are right to question whether you can overcome limited tort for your noneconomic damages.
Pennsylvania limited tort law does allow you to overcome the general rule limiting your recovery of pain and suffering damages if you meet one of the PA limited tort exceptions.
The exceptions which allow your full recovery include when:
- You sustain a severe injury that had a substantial impact on a bodily function.
- You were a passenger in a commercial vehicle.
- The car accident was caused by a defect in the design, manufacturing, maintenance or repair of the vehicle.
- The person who caused the accident was uninsured.
- The person who caused the crash intended to cause injury.
- The car that caused the crash was not registered in Pennsylvania.
- The person who caused the accident was convicted of or accepted ARD for driving under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance.
Do you know someone who has limited tort insurance and is concerned about his or her full recovery? If so, please share this page with that person so that he or she can understand that it is possible to overcome limited tort insurance in Pennsylvania.
