Uninsured vs. Underinsured Motorist Coverage in Pennsylvania

By the FigureMyTax Editorial Team · How we calculate

Pennsylvania insurers must offer UM and UIM, but buying them is optional. Underinsured means the other driver's available limits are insufficient for your losses. If you chose limited tort, pain and suffering needs a serious injury.

Uninsured and underinsured

75 Pa.C.S. 1702 counts as uninsured a vehicle with no liability insurance or self-insurance, one whose insurer denies coverage or is insolvent, and an unidentified vehicle reported to the police with notice to your insurer within the statutory time. An underinsured vehicle is one whose available liability limits are insufficient to pay losses and damages.

How it pays

The statutes we read do not say how the UIM payment is calculated against the other driver's payment, so the calculator shows both an on-top-of-it reading and a reduced-by-limits reading. Your policy controls; ask your insurer in writing. You cannot recover amounts of first party benefits or workers' compensation paid or payable (1722).

Limited tort and full tort

Section 1705 lets you choose full tort or limited tort. Under limited tort you can recover economic loss but not pain and suffering unless the injury is a serious injury: death, serious impairment of body function or permanent serious disfigurement. Exceptions include an at-fault driver convicted of or accepting ARD for drunk driving, an out-of-state vehicle, or an uninsured at-fault driver. If you did not choose, you are presumed to have chosen full tort.

Fault and deadlines

Damages are reduced by your share of fault, and you are barred only if your negligence is greater than the causal negligence of the defendants, so 50 percent is allowed (42 Pa.C.S. 7102). Most injury actions have 2 years (42 Pa.C.S. 5524).

Next steps

Stacking is a separate question; see our statute post and the explainer, then use the Pennsylvania UM/UIM stacking calculator.

This is general information, not legal advice, and the state comparisons above are illustrative, not an exhaustive survey. Confirm how Pennsylvania's rules apply to your specific case with a licensed Pennsylvania attorney.