PIP & Med-Pay rules in Vermont

If you were just hurt in a Vermont crash, one of the first questions is who pays the medical bills. The answer here works differently than it does for drivers in Florida, Michigan, or New York. Vermont has no personal injury protection (PIP) requirement and no no-fault system. It is an at-fault (tort) state, which means the driver who caused the wreck, and that driver's insurance, is responsible for the harm. Vermont police logged 7,593 reportable crashes statewide in 2025 ¹, so this plays out constantly, yet most people only learn how their coverage works after they need it.

Here is what actually governs medical payments and injury recovery in Vermont.

Vermont has no PIP and no no-fault law

A Vermont auto policy is built from seven coverages, and only two are required by law: liability, and uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage ². Personal injury protection is not on that list at all. Vermont never adopted a no-fault statute, so there is no PIP box to check and no state-mandated pool of first-party medical coverage that pays your bills no matter who caused the crash.

That single fact shapes everything else. In a no-fault state, your own insurer covers your initial medical costs regardless of fault. In Vermont, you generally look to the at-fault driver to make you whole, and you prove fault to do it.

The mandatory liability minimums are set by statute at 25/50/10: at least $25,000 for bodily injury or death to one person, $50,000 per crash when more than one person is hurt, and $10,000 for property damage ³. A driver can file $115,000 of self-insurance with the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles instead of buying a policy ³, though few do. These are floors, not recommendations, and the state's own consumer guide warns they are thin protection for anyone with real assets ².

Med-Pay in Vermont is optional, and worth understanding

Medical payments coverage (MedPay) is one of the five optional coverages a Vermont insurer can sell you ². Nothing in Vermont law requires it on an ordinary personal auto policy. Plenty of drivers skip it, then wish they hadn't.

When you do carry it, MedPay behaves in a way that matters after a crash. It has no deductible, and it pays medical expenses for you and your passengers regardless of who was at fault ². It is also portable. The Vermont Department of Financial Regulation says MedPay covers members of your household when they are riding in someone else's car, using public transportation, or struck by a vehicle as a pedestrian ². Because it pays fast and without a fault fight, MedPay is often the money that covers your co-pays and early treatment while a liability claim is still open.

MedPay does not replace a liability claim. It stacks on top of one. What you collect from your own MedPay does not reduce what you can pursue from the at-fault driver for the same injuries, although your insurer may assert reimbursement rights out of a later settlement depending on your policy terms.

The one place Vermont law requires Med-Pay

There is exactly one situation where a Vermont statute forces MedPay onto a policy, and it is narrow. When a rideshare driver is engaged in a prearranged ride through a transportation network company such as Uber or Lyft, the law requires $5,000 in medical payments coverage, on top of $1,000,000 in liability coverage and $1,000,000 in uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage ⁴. That $5,000 floor sits in 23 V.S.A. § 750 and applies only while a passenger is in the car ⁴. If you are hurt as a rideshare passenger in Vermont, that coverage exists by law. On your own personal policy, it does not.

How your crash bills actually get paid

Because Vermont has no PIP, the money for medical care after a crash usually comes from several places, in a rough order.

Your own health insurance often pays first, especially for early treatment, because it does not wait for anyone to admit fault. If you carry MedPay, it fills co-pays and other gaps with no fault requirement ². The at-fault driver's liability coverage is where the larger recovery for your injuries comes from, but it usually pays as a lump sum when the claim settles, not bill by bill as you go.

Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is the backstop, and Vermont takes it seriously. Every auto policy issued in the state must include UM/UIM of at least $50,000 for one person and $100,000 for two or more ⁵. If you buy liability limits above those minimums, your UM/UIM limits rise to match automatically, unless you direct your insurer otherwise ⁵. There is also a UM property-damage piece of up to $10,000 per claim, subject to a $150 deductible ⁵. So if the driver who hit you had no insurance, or too little, your own policy steps into that driver's shoes up to your limits. If your vehicle lost market value in the wreck, that is a separate claim from your injuries, covered in our Vermont diminished value guide.

Fault, your share of blame, and the clock

Since recovery runs through fault, two Vermont rules decide how much you actually collect.

The first is comparative negligence. Vermont uses a modified comparative rule under 12 V.S.A. § 1036: you can recover as long as your share of the fault "was not greater than" the combined fault of the drivers you are suing, and your damages drop by your own percentage ⁶. If you are 50 percent responsible, you still recover half. At 51 percent, you recover nothing. The DFR's consumer guide gives the everyday version: at 50 percent fault, the other driver's insurer may pay only half your loss ².

The second is the deadline. A Vermont injury lawsuit must be filed within three years under 12 V.S.A. § 512 ⁷. The statute ties the clock to "the date of the discovery of the injury," which can matter when harm shows up later than the crash itself ⁷. Damage to your vehicle and other personal property carries the same three-year limit ⁷. A few situations can pause the clock, such as an injured minor or a defendant who leaves the state, but never plan around that. Miss the deadline and even the strongest claim is gone.

If you need the official record of your wreck, the Vermont DMV keeps crash reports ⁸; you can start with our Vermont crash reports page. And if you are deciding whether to handle a claim yourself or get help, our legal directory lists Vermont attorneys who take car crash cases.

One last figure for perspective. Vermont recorded 623 reportable crashes in May 2026 alone ⁹. Behind many of them are drivers who assumed their coverage worked one way and learned, too late, that it worked another. Knowing that Vermont is an at-fault state, with optional MedPay and no PIP, is the difference between a claim that pays and one that stalls.

This is general information about Vermont law, not legal advice for your specific situation.

Sources

1. thatcarhitme.com, Vermont (Statewide) Crash Report, 2025. https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/vermont/statewide/2025-annual-report

2. Vermont Department of Financial Regulation, Consumer's Guide to Auto Insurance. https://dfr.vermont.gov/sites/finreg/files/doc_library/dfr-consumers-guide-to-auto-insurance.pdf

3. Vermont Statutes, 23 V.S.A. § 800, Maintenance of financial responsibility. https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/23/011/00800

4. Vermont Statutes, 23 V.S.A. § 750, Transportation network companies; insurance requirements. https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/23/010/00750

5. Vermont Statutes, 23 V.S.A. § 941, Insurance against uninsured, underinsured, or unknown motorists. https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/23/011/00941

6. Vermont Statutes, 12 V.S.A. § 1036, Contributory and comparative negligence. https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/12/027/01036

7. Vermont Statutes, 12 V.S.A. § 512, Injuries to person or property. https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/12/023/00512

8. Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles, Crashes. https://dmv.vermont.gov/enforcement-and-safety/laws/crashes

9. thatcarhitme.com, Vermont (Statewide) Crash Report, May 2026. https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/vermont/statewide/may-2026-report