Find out if you live in a state with no-fault auto insurance, what it means for your coverage, and how fault laws vary from state to state.
Andrew Hurst is a senior editor and a licensed auto insurance expert at Policygenius. His work has also been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, USA Today, NPR, Mic, Insurance Business Magazine, ValuePenguin, and Property Casualty 360.
The 12 states that have no-fault insurance laws are: Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Utah. Drivers can opt out of a no-fault policy in Kentucky, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
Drivers in the 12 no-fault states can’t rely on the other drivers' car insurance coverage to pay for their injuries after an accident, even if the other driver was at fault. Instead, they're required to have personal injury protection, sometimes referred to as "no-fault insurance," which covers their own injuries after a crash. However, no matter where you live, the at-fault driver still has to pay for the property damage they cause, even in no-fault states.
A no-fault state is a state that requires drivers to have a minimum amount of personal injury protection (PIP) coverage, usually in addition to bodily injury and property damage liability coverage. After an accident, drivers in a no-fault state must file a claim with their own insurance company for the costs of their injuries, no matter who was actually responsible for the crash.
In no-fault states, the right of drivers to sue for their medical injuries is limited. Injured drivers may only be able to sue if their injuries are considered severe. At-fault states have different ways of defining severity, but generally you can only sue if your injuries or your medical bills meet certain thresholds.