When you purchase car insurance in Pennsylvania, you have a choice to make. You have to choose whether you want full tort or limited tort. Full tort is more expensive coverage, but your full legal rights are protected. Limited tort is cheaper coverage, but your legal rights are limited in the event that you’re injured in an accident caused by someone else.

With full tort, your full legal rights are protected. If you’re injured due to someone else’s negligence, you can make a legal claim and recover compensation for both your economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages are things like medical bills, lost wages, out of pocket expenses. Non-economic damages are things like pain and suffering and the negative impact on your life. When you choose full tort, you have a right to be compensated for both your economic damages and your non-economic damages.

With limited tort, you pay less for your insurance coverage, but your legal rights are limited. You’re able to recover your economic damages like lost wages and medical bills, but except under special circumstances, you give up your ability to recover non-economic damages, like pain and suffering and the negative impact on your life. So limited tort is cheaper coverage, but the legal rights of you and your family are limited.

Therefore, I recommend that people in Pennsylvania choose full tort. For more information on purchasing car insurance, please call or email me, and I’ll send you a free copy of my book, “A Lawyer’s Guide to Purchasing Car Insurance.”