Pennsylvania Personal Injury Settlement Calculator

How this estimate is calculated

The calculator adds your provable losses, estimates pain and suffering using a multiplier applied to your medical costs, and reduces the total by your share of fault. In Pennsylvania there is a step before any of that: if you elected limited tort and your injury is not serious, the pain and suffering figure is zero regardless of the medical bills.

The reasoning behind the multiplier method, attorney fees and how gross settlements become net is covered in our full guide to settlement values.

Limited tort and full tort

Pennsylvania has been a choice no-fault state since 1990. Every policyholder must elect one of two options under 75 Pa.C.S. § 1705:

• Full tort — an unrestricted right to sue for pain and suffering. Costs more.
• Limited tort — a lower premium, but non-economic damages are off the table unless an exception applies.

Medical bills and lost wages are recoverable either way. It is only pain, suffering and loss of life’s pleasures that the election controls — and in most serious claims that is the larger number.

Two defaults worth knowing. If you were given the election notice and never responded, you are deemed to have chosen full tort. But an owner of a registered vehicle who carries no financial responsibility at all is deemed to have chosen limited tort.

The serious injury threshold, and the exceptions around it

A limited tort driver can still claim pain and suffering where the injury qualifies as a serious injury: death, serious impairment of a body function, or permanent serious disfigurement.

Several statutory exceptions also lift the restriction entirely, regardless of how serious the injury was:

• The at-fault driver was convicted of, or accepted ARD for, driving under the influence
• The at-fault vehicle was registered in another state
• The at-fault driver was uninsured
• The injury was intended rather than negligent

Limited tort is therefore a restriction, not a bar. Many people assume the election ends their claim and never find out that one of these exceptions applied.

Pennsylvania cannot cap your damages

This is unusual. Article III, Section 18 of the Pennsylvania Constitution prohibits the legislature from limiting the amount recoverable for injuries, outside workers’ compensation.

So there is no cap on pain and suffering, and none in medical malpractice either — unlike Texas, California or Ohio. Punitive damages in malpractice claims are limited to twice compensatory damages under the MCARE Act, but ordinary injury claims carry no statutory punitive cap.

The lowest insurance minimums in the country

Pennsylvania requires 15/30/5 plus $5,000 in first-party medical benefits. Those figures date from 1984 and have never been raised. Compare them with New Jersey next door, which now requires 35/70/25.

The practical effect is severe. A claim genuinely worth $150,000 against a minimum-limits driver meets a $15,000 liability policy. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage must be offered in Pennsylvania but can be declined with a signed rejection form — and with roughly one driver in nine uninsured, that own-policy coverage is frequently the whole case.

The mandatory $5,000 in first-party benefits pays your own medical costs regardless of fault under § 1711, and is exhausted quickly.

What this calculator cannot account for in Pennsylvania

• Whether an exception to limited tort applies. A DUI conviction or an out-of-state plate changes the entire valuation, and neither is something you would know at the roadside.
• Act 6 medical cost limits. Pennsylvania caps what providers may charge for accident-related care, which affects the medical figure the multiplier is applied to.
• Health plan and ERISA reimbursement. Both can claim a share of the settlement.
• Venue. Philadelphia has long been among the more claimant-favourable venues in the country; Allegheny and the surrounding counties are markedly more conservative.

Treat the number above as a starting point for a conversation, not a valuation.

Frequently asked questions

How do I find out whether I have limited or full tort?

It is stated on your policy declarations page. If you were offered the election and never made a choice, Pennsylvania law treats you as having full tort.

What counts as a serious injury under Pennsylvania law?

Death, serious impairment of a body function, or permanent serious disfigurement. Courts assess impairment case by case rather than against a fixed list.

Can a limited tort driver ever claim pain and suffering?

Yes. Where the injury is serious, or where the at-fault driver was drunk, uninsured, driving an out-of-state vehicle, or acted intentionally, the restriction does not apply.

Is there a cap on damages in Pennsylvania?

No. The state constitution prohibits the legislature from limiting recovery for injuries, so no cap applies to pain and suffering or to medical malpractice damages.

What if the at-fault driver only had the 15/30/5 minimum?

Then $15,000 is the ceiling on that policy. Your own underinsured motorist coverage, a second liable party, or a commercial policy are the remaining routes to recovery.

Related

• Pennsylvania filing deadline checker — including the six-month government notice
• Pennsylvania injury claims overview
• How settlement values are calculated: the full guide