There is no other way to say it – Limited Tort is Bad and Full Tort is Good.

Limited Tort artificially eliminates important legal rights for you and your family after a Car Accident, while Full Tort preserves those rights.

But let’s start at the beginning. What in the world is Limited Tort and Full Tort anyway ?

Limited Tort – A Legislative Tool to Limit Lawsuits and Reduce Insurance Costs

In the mid 1980s, the Pennsylvania legislature enacted the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Responsibility Law (MVFRL) which created the Full Tort versus Limited Tort Election.

The stated purpose of the MVFRL was to reduce insurance costs and reduce litigation. Policy holders were given a choice to make when they bought car insurance, whether they wanted Full Tort or Limited Tort.

Limited Tort Jeopardizes Rights to Compensation While Full Tort Protects those Rights

Full Tort was more expensive coverage, but protected an injured person’s full legal rights to seek compensation after being injured in a car accident.

Limited Tort offered a premium discount, but in exchange for the savings, a policy holder waived the right to bring a lawsuit for non-economic damages, like pain and suffering, after being injured in a car accident cause by someone else. Unless someone covered by Limited Tort suffered a “serious injury” defined as “death, serious and permanent disfigurement or serious impairment of body function”, the right to non-economic damage compensation was waived.

The MVFRL seems to have a legitimate purpose but, in reality, people who choose Limited Tort and then are injured in car accidents, are almost universally disappointed by their choice because they have jeopardized important legal rights to compensation.

“But I’m Not the Suing Type Anyway….”

Although almost everyone believes that “they are not the suing type“, when people are actually injured in a car accident, they change their tune and realize that it is appropriate for the law to allow monetary compensation for victims, including compensation for non-economic damages, like pain and suffering. Once you are actually involved in a car collision that causes injuries, you realize that 99.9% of all personal injury claims are not “frivolous“ but, instead, the victim has suffered painful and disabling injuries innocently and deserves to have the defendant pay for all of the harm, not part of it.

The Problem with Limited Tort

The problem with Limited Tort is that it takes away those important legal rights and the premium savings does not justify the loss of those important rights.

Almost Everyone Who Has Limited Tort and then Has a Car Accident Regrets the Choice

During my 30 year career as a Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyer, I have had to advise hundreds of potential Car Accident clients of the problem with their Limited Tort election. Nearly every one has regretted the minimal cost saving choice and has been bitterly disappointed with his or her car insurance agent for allowing the Limited Tort election. Once they truly comprehend the negative consequences of the choice of Limited Tort, they wish that they had preserved their full legal rights with Full Tort.

So, please check your Car Insurance Policy and make sure that you have Full Tort, not Limited Tort!