Home › Personal Injury Laws by State › Pennsylvania Personal Injury Laws

Pennsylvania generally requires most personal injury lawsuits based on negligence to be filed within two years after the claim accrues. Claims against governmental entities involve additional notice requirements and special rules, and different rules, exceptions, and tolling provisions may apply depending on the claim and the parties involved. This page cannot determine which deadline applies to any particular situation; only a licensed Pennsylvania attorney reviewing the facts can do that.

Pennsylvania follows a choice-based insurance system for motor-vehicle injury claims, under which a person's own policy generally pays certain medical benefits regardless of who caused a collision, and the categories of compensation a person may seek from an at-fault driver can depend on the coverage option selected when the policy was purchased, subject to exceptions defined by state law. In such claims, liability ordinarily depends on who caused the collision, and the compensation available generally depends on the injuries or losses involved and the insurance coverage that applies. How these rules apply in any individual situation depends on its facts, and if the parties involved cannot agree on liability, the court process may be necessary to resolve it.

Pennsylvania follows a modified comparative-fault rule. In general terms, compensation may be reduced according to an injured person's share of fault, and recovery is generally barred when that person's share of the fault is greater than half of the total fault involved. Whether and how fault is attributed in any particular matter depends on its facts and may have to be determined by a court of law.

Pennsylvania generally requires vehicle owners to maintain insurance that meets minimum requirements established by state law, including liability coverage and first-party medical benefits, and requires policyholders to select between coverage options that affect the compensation available after a collision. Insurers are also generally required to offer uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, which a policyholder may reject in writing. The coverage available in any particular situation depends on the policies involved and current law.

The Pennsylvania constitution generally prohibits laws limiting the amount recoverable for injuries or death in most civil cases, so the caps on compensatory damages that exist in many states generally do not apply in Pennsylvania injury cases. Limits do apply to claims against governmental entities, and other categories of damages are subject to separate legal standards. Because these rules can vary by claim and may change, this page does not determine what damages may be available in any particular matter.

Pennsylvania personal injury lawsuits may be filed in the state's courts of common pleas, which have general civil jurisdiction, with magisterial district courts handling some more limited civil matters. Many injury claims are resolved through insurance processes or negotiation without a lawsuit being filed. Which court, if any, would be appropriate depends on the nature of the claim, the relief involved, and other facts that a licensed Pennsylvania attorney can evaluate.

A licensed Pennsylvania attorney can explain how rules involving deadlines, fault, insurance, damages, and procedure may apply to a specific situation—something a general reference page cannot do. This platform helps injured people seek connections with participating local personal injury attorney offices in the Pennsylvania communities listed below, based on availability. Requesting a connection is free and carries no obligation to hire an attorney.