Legal Question in Personal Injury in Pennsylvania

Re: Does tort law follow a passenger ot the car?

Can I help you? No. This answer may sound rude, but you've hit a couple of my pet peeves in one message.

Apart from the usual disclaimers, that this site is to provide general information, and to get actual assistance, you need to consult and retain an attorney, it looks like this:

First, you got insurance with SafeAuto, a company that brags that it provides the absolute minimum coverage the law allows. You signed up for minimum coverage, and that's what you got. In PA, the first-party benefits and limited tort option follow the insured person. If you had other health coverage, then that would kick in after the 5G was used up. Unfortunately, the minimum limits required for legal insurance are ridiculously low. 5G might not even cover an ER visit these days, if they have to do scans and stuff like that. The 15G liability limit hasn't been increased in 40 years. How much has everything else gone up?

Second, after the accident, you didn't retain an attorney, but you listened to friends. Liability insurance does follow the car, and that's what probably got your friend confused.

Third, you settled your liability claim, again without advice of an attorney (I assume, because you didn't say anything about getting an attorney). Maybe you thought an attorney would just take part of the settlement for a fee, and you could save that money by doing it yourself.

If you got the policy limits, then that's all there is, and maybe an attorney couldn't have gotten more.

Unfortunately, you made choices and you have to live with the consequences. You bought cheap insurance and got what you paid for. If you had underinsured motorist coverage, you'd have additional benefits available. If you had optional added PIP coverage, you'd have more medical benefits.

You settled your liability claims, and that means they're settled. It doesn't matter who was at fault, if you released both drivers. It's too late for you, but I'm hoping others might learn that minimum coverage is a big mistake. Everyone should have full tort, at least 300,000 limits, and UM/UIM coverage. And people should consult counsel before making decisions about the claims. Afterwards, it's too late.

Re: Does tort law follow a passenger ot the car?

Can I help you? No.

Can anyone make any more mistakes than you did? I doubt it.

First, you got cheapy insurance from a cheapy company so that you could save some money. Right? Mistake no. 1.

Then you bought the absolute minimum coverage the law allows. Right? Mistake no 2.

As a part of that, you signed up for limited tort, not full tort. Right? Mistake no. 3. BIG AND STUPID MISTAKE THERE.

So, since you bought minimum coverage, you got what you paid for. Minimum.

First party benefits follow the person, not the car. Therefore, your limited tort mistake follows you everywhere...including if you are walking down the sidewalk and get hit by a car. So, I suggest that you fix that now.

Well, let's see, we're on Mistake #3.

Then, after the accident, you didn't call an attorney. Mistake #4.

Mistake #5 is that you settled your claim...again without talking to an attorney. DUMB, DUMB, DUMB.

You say that you settled your claims and then asked for help. To do what? Find you a time machine so that you can go back and undo your mistakes?

Here's the help you need: Go and buy full tort coverage with at least $300,000 of coverage. Make sure you have uninsured/underinsured coverage. And, next time, call an attorney before signing a bunch of papers.