I feel like it’s been somewhat of an obsession of mine – advising whomever will listen about the danger of choosing Limited Tort rather than Full Tort on a Pennsylvania Car Insurance Policy.  For 20 years now, I’ve been warning people by lecturing, writing articles, doing You Tube videos and even publishing a book A Lawyer’s Guide to Purchasing Car Insurance.  One of the primary messages:  Don’t limit your legal rights after a car accident by choosing Limited Tort on your Pennsylvania car insurance.

That’s why I’m always suprised to learn that one of my friends, somebody on my Newsletter mailing list no less, has made the unwise choice of Limited Tort.  Like many before him, this friend was very disappointed by the choice after learning that it might prevent a family member from receiving fair compensation after a Pennsylvania car accident.  He was also suprised that he had Limited Tort, mistakenly thinking that he had “good coverage”.

(By the way, he did have  coverage otherwise including $250,000 of Uninsured and Underinsured Coverage which is also crucial to protect your family from irresponsible drivers.  But, that’s a topic for another day….)

Now, so that YOU will not be put in a similar predicament as my friend, let’s have a refresher course on Limited Tort versus Full Tort.

Limited Tort allows you to save money on your Pennsylvania Car Insurance Premiums.  However, to save money on premiums, you Limit your legal rights after being injured in a car accident.  Specifically, with certain exceptions, unless you suffer a “serious injury”, which is defined as “death, serious impairment of a body function or permanent and serious disfigurement”,  you are barred from attempting to recover compensation for pain and suffering after a car accident.  So, in exchange for lower premiums, you give up that right which could be worth thousands of dollars.

Full Tort is more expensive coverage, but your rights to seek full compensation after a car accident are preserved.

In my career, I’ve had to tell numerous people about the consequences of choosing Limited Tort after they have been injured in a car accident.  Almost every time, the person had no idea what having Limited Tort really meant and vowed to change to Full Tort immediately after learning about the negative impact of the choice.

Please check your Pennsylvania Car Insurance Policy and make sure you have Full Tort so you don’t end up like my friend.

Tim Rayne is a Pennsylvania Car Accident and Personal Injury Attorney with the Chester County law firm MacElree Harvey.  For over 20 years, Tim has been helping accident victims receive fair compensation from insurance companies.  Contact Tim for a Free Review of your Pennsylvania Car Insurance Policy at 610 840 0124 or trayne@macelree.com.