Pennsylvania sets a specific floor for what every registered vehicle must carry, and the numbers are lower than most drivers assume. If another driver hit you, the size of that floor is often the first thing that decides whether your bills get paid. Here is exactly what state law requires, with the statute behind each rule.
Pennsylvania's 15/30/5 liability minimum
Every motor vehicle registered in Pennsylvania has to carry liability insurance, and the minimum is written into the definition of "financial responsibility" in the vehicle code: $15,000 for injury to one person in an accident, $30,000 for injury to two or more people, and $5,000 for damage to someone else's property.1 PennDOT lists the same three limits on its insurance overview page.2 Insurers and agents shorthand this as "15/30/5."
Liability coverage pays the other side when you are at fault. It does nothing for your own injuries or your own car. That distinction matters because the $5,000 property number is small. A moderate repair or a totaled late-model vehicle blows past it quickly, and if the at-fault driver carried only the minimum, their policy may not cover your full loss. If your car lost market value after being repaired, that is a separate claim; see diminished value in Pennsylvania.
Medical benefits are mandatory, and paid regardless of fault
Pennsylvania is a no-fault state for first-party medical bills. Every policy has to include a medical benefit of at least $5,000, and it pays for your treatment no matter who caused the crash.3 This is often called PIP (personal injury protection) or "first-party benefits."
That $5,000 is a floor, not a ceiling. You can buy more, and given the cost of an emergency room visit and follow-up care, many people do. The law also puts a clock on the insurer. Once it gets reasonable proof of a covered bill, it has 30 days to pay before the benefit is overdue and starts drawing 12% annual interest, with the possibility of attorney fees.4
Full tort or limited tort
When you buy a Pennsylvania policy you make a decision that has nothing to do with dollar limits and everything to do with your right to sue. You elect either full tort or limited tort.5
Full tort keeps your unrestricted right to sue an at-fault driver for pain and suffering. Limited tort trades that right for a lower premium. You can still recover medical bills and other out-of-pocket losses, but you generally cannot recover for pain and suffering unless your injury meets the statutory definition of a "serious injury," which the code defines as "a personal injury resulting in death, serious impairment of body function or permanent serious disfigurement."1
Limited tort comes with exceptions written into the statute. Even under limited tort, you keep full-tort rights if the at-fault driver is convicted of DUI, is uninsured, or was driving a vehicle registered in another state, and if you were hurt as an occupant of something other than a private passenger vehicle.5
If you never make the election, the default protects you. The insurer must send two notices, and if you don't respond in time (the second notice runs up to ten days before renewal), you are "conclusively presumed" to have chosen full tort.5 Silence lands you on the stronger option. But if you once signed a limited tort form to save money, that choice sticks until you change it.
Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage
Given how many drivers carry only the 15/30/5 minimum, or nothing at all, coverage that protects you against them is worth understanding. Pennsylvania insurers must offer uninsured motorist (UM) and underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage with every policy, but buying it is optional.6 You can reject either one, and to be valid the rejection has to be a separate, signed, dated form in the exact language the statute prescribes.6
Two defaults work in your favor. If the insurer never got a valid signed rejection, UM/UIM coverage defaults to match your bodily injury limits.6 And when you insure more than one vehicle, the coverage "stacks" by default, meaning the limits add together across your vehicles unless you sign a separate waiver giving that up.7 You can also request UM/UIM limits lower than your liability limits, but only in writing.8
Proof of insurance and the cost of driving without it
You have to be able to prove coverage. PennDOT accepts an insurance ID card, the policy declaration page, a valid binder signed by a licensed agent, an assigned-risk application, or a letter from the carrier on official letterhead.2
Driving without the required coverage is expensive. A lapse suspends your vehicle registration for three months, and driving uninsured can suspend your operating privilege for three months on top of a $300 fine for the summary offense.9 Instead of serving the registration suspension, you can pay a $500 civil penalty plus the restoration fee and show proof of insurance, but only once in any 12-month period.9 There is a narrow break for short gaps. If the lapse was 30 days or less and you can show the vehicle wasn't driven, PennDOT can waive the suspension.2
Why the minimums are often not enough
The state floor exists to get cars legally on the road. It was never meant to make you whole after a serious crash. A $15,000 bodily injury limit disappears against a single hospital stay, and $5,000 in property coverage rarely covers a modern vehicle. If the driver who hit you carried only the minimums, your own UIM coverage and the mandatory medical benefits may be what actually gets your bills paid.
If you were hurt, two deadlines matter. You generally have two years from the crash date to file a personal injury lawsuit in Pennsylvania.10 And your first-party medical claim runs on its own 30-day payment clock.4 When you're dealing with a coverage dispute or a claim worth more than the minimums, that is the point to talk to a lawyer; you can find a Pennsylvania attorney here. It also helps to have the official crash report in hand before you deal with the insurers.
This is general information, not legal advice.
Sources
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75 Pa.C.S. § 1702, Definitions (financial responsibility limits and "serious injury"). Pennsylvania General Assembly. https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/75/00.017.002.000..HTM
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Insurance Overview, Pennsylvania Driver and Vehicle Services (PennDOT). https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dmv/vehicle-services/insurance-overview
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75 Pa.C.S. § 1711, Required benefits. Pennsylvania General Assembly. https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/75/00.017.011.000..HTM
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75 Pa.C.S. § 1716, Payment of benefits (overdue payments and 12% interest). Pennsylvania General Assembly. https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/75/00.017.016.000..HTM
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75 Pa.C.S. § 1705, Election of tort options. Pennsylvania General Assembly. https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/75/00.017.005.000..HTM
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75 Pa.C.S. § 1731, Availability, scope and amount of coverage (UM/UIM). Pennsylvania General Assembly. https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/75/00.017.031.000..HTM
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75 Pa.C.S. § 1738, Stacking of uninsured and underinsured benefits and option to waive. Pennsylvania General Assembly. https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/75/00.017.038.000..HTM
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75 Pa.C.S. § 1734, Request for lower limits of coverage. Pennsylvania General Assembly. https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/75/00.017.034.000..HTM
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75 Pa.C.S. § 1786, Required financial responsibility (penalties). Pennsylvania General Assembly. https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/75/00.017.086.000..HTM
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42 Pa.C.S. § 5524, Two year limitation. Pennsylvania General Assembly. https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/42/00.055.024.000..HTM