If a crash just left you with medical bills and missed paychecks, Maryland has a pool of money that pays out no matter who caused it. It's called Personal Injury Protection, PIP for short, and most drivers in the state carry it without knowing how fast they can use it or how much it's worth. In May 2025, Montgomery County alone recorded 898 reported crashes.1 For a large share of those drivers, PIP was the first check that arrived.
Maryland is a fault (tort) state, not a no-fault state. That distinction changes how PIP works here, so it's worth getting the Maryland rules exactly right.
What PIP covers in Maryland
Every auto insurer in Maryland has to offer at least $2,500 in PIP on a private passenger policy.23 That $2,500 is a floor, not a ceiling. You can buy higher limits, and many insurers sell $5,000 or $10,000 options at a modest extra cost.3
Within that limit, PIP reimburses three things after a crash: reasonable and necessary medical, hospital, dental, ambulance, nursing, surgical, X-ray, prosthetic, and funeral expenses; 85% of the income you lost because the injury kept you from working; and the cost of essential household services you can no longer do yourself if you weren't earning income when you were hurt.2 The expenses have to be incurred within three years of the accident to qualify.2
PIP follows the person, not just the car. It covers you, your household relatives, anyone you let drive the insured vehicle, your passengers, and pedestrians your car hits.3
PIP pays no matter who was at fault, and you still get to sue
This is the part that trips up people who moved here from a true no-fault state. Maryland PIP is paid "without regard to the fault or nonfault" of anyone involved.4 You file with your own insurer, and the money comes regardless of who ran the light.
Two Maryland rules make PIP more valuable than the medical-payments coverage in many other states. First, your PIP insurer has no right of subrogation, so it cannot claw the money back out of your settlement with the at-fault driver.4 Second, PIP is paid without regard to any collateral source of medical or wage benefits.4 Put those together and you get the Maryland advantage: you collect your PIP, keep it, and still pursue the at-fault driver for the full amount of your medical bills and lost wages. The defendant does not get to subtract what your PIP already paid. There is no injury threshold to clear before you can sue, the way there is in Florida or Michigan. PIP is extra money that sits on top of your injury claim rather than replacing it.4
Check your policy for a PIP waiver
Because PIP is only a required offer, the first named insured on a policy can waive it in writing.5 The waiver has to be on a form the Insurance Commissioner approves, and that form must spell out in 10-point boldface type what you are giving up.5 One signed waiver reaches further than most people expect. It wipes out PIP for every named insured, every listed driver, and every family member age 16 or older living in the household.5
That last point matters after a crash. If the policyholder waived PIP, a 20-year-old son on the policy and a spouse in the passenger seat are usually shut out too. A waiver cannot be applied to household members under 16.5 If you are not sure whether you have PIP, pull your declarations page or call your agent before you assume the bills are on you.
There is a separate, narrower option to reject PIP outright under Section 19-506.1. It is available mainly on bare minimum-limits policies and on Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund policies for drivers who lacked continuous coverage, and it lasts until the policy renews.6
The deadlines that decide whether you get paid
Maryland puts real teeth behind PIP. Once your insurer has satisfactory proof of claim, it must pay within 30 days.7 If it drags past that, the overdue amount collects simple interest at 1.5% per month, which works out to 18% a year.7
You have time to file, but not unlimited time. A Maryland policy may require that the original claim be filed within a window of "not less than 12 months" after the accident.7 Read your policy for the exact deadline and treat 12 months as the outside edge you never want to test. That is separate from, and much shorter than, the three-year statute of limitations for suing the at-fault driver.8
Using PIP won't get you dropped
A common fear is that filing a PIP claim will raise your rates or cost you the policy. Maryland law limits that. An insurer may not cancel or refuse to renew your policy based on your claims history when two or fewer of the claims in the previous three years were for accidents where you were not at fault.9 Since PIP pays out on not-at-fault crashes all the time, this protection covers the exact situation most drivers worry about.
Med-Pay versus PIP in Maryland
In a lot of states, drivers choose between PIP and a smaller product called Medical Payments coverage, or Med-Pay. Maryland's system is built around PIP instead. The statutory first-party coverage every insurer must offer is PIP, and it already does what Med-Pay does elsewhere, then adds lost wages and household services on top.2 The Maryland Insurance Administration's own consumer guidance describes the required first-party benefit as PIP and does not point drivers toward a separate Med-Pay product.3 If an agent offers you extra "medical payments" coverage, treat it as an optional add-on and ask how it coordinates with the PIP you already have.
What to do with this after a crash
Start your own PIP claim early. The 30-day payment clock and the 12-month filing window both run in your favor only if you move.7 Keep every medical bill and a record of missed work, because PIP reimburses documented costs, not estimates.2 If your injuries or bills run past your PIP limit, your claim against the at-fault driver is separate and unaffected by what PIP paid.4 Maryland requires at least 30/60/15 in liability coverage, plus matching uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage on every policy, so there is usually a second source to pursue.1011
For a crash that involved serious injury, a disputed fault call, or a waiver you did not know about, it is worth talking to a Maryland attorney before you sign anything. You can start with the thatcarhitme.com legal directory. If you also need the police report, see Maryland crash reports, and if your car lost resale value, the Maryland diminished value guide covers that separate claim.
This article is general information about Maryland law, not legal advice.
Sources
-
thatcarhitme.com, Montgomery County, MD Crash Report, May 2025 (898 reported crashes). https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/maryland/montgomery-county/may-2025-report
-
Md. Code, Insurance § 19-505 (Personal Injury Protection coverage). https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gin§ion=19-505&enactments=false
-
Maryland Insurance Administration, Tips for Shopping for Auto Insurance. https://insurance.maryland.gov/Consumer/Pages/auto-insurance-shopping-tips.aspx
-
Md. Code, Insurance § 19-507 (benefits paid without regard to fault; no right of subrogation; without regard to collateral source). https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gin§ion=19-507&enactments=false
-
Md. Code, Insurance § 19-506 (waiver of PIP by first named insured). https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gin§ion=19-506&enactments=false
-
Md. Code, Insurance § 19-506.1 (rejection of PIP on minimum-limits and MAIF policies). https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gin§ion=19-506.1&enactments=false
-
Md. Code, Insurance § 19-508 (payment within 30 days; filing period of not less than 12 months; 1.5% monthly interest on overdue benefits). https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gin§ion=19-508&enactments=false
-
Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-101 (three-year statute of limitations for civil actions). https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gcj§ion=5-101&enactments=false
-
Md. Code, Insurance § 27-501 (limits on cancellation and nonrenewal for not-at-fault claims). https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gin§ion=27-501&enactments=false
-
Md. Code, Insurance § 19-509 (mandatory uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage). https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gin§ion=19-509&enactments=false
-
Md. Code, Transportation § 17-103 (minimum liability limits, 30/60/15). https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gtr§ion=17-103