Personal Injury Protection (PIP): What It Covers & Who Needs It

What is Personal Injury Protection (PIP)?

PIP is a first-party coverage in your auto insurance policy. Your own insurer pays your PIP benefits, even when another driver caused the crash. Some states call PIP "no-fault" coverage for that reason.

Each PIP policy has a per-person limit. Your health insurance pays the medical expenses that exceed your PIP limit.

What Does PIP Insurance Cover?

PIP covers 4 types of loss: medical bills, lost wages, essential services, and funeral expenses. Each benefit pays up to your PIP limit. Each state sets which benefits apply and how much each benefit pays.

In some states, this is called "no-fault" insurance because the insurance company pays even if you caused the accident or if no other drivers were involved.

Medical Bills

PIP covers medical treatment for accident-related injuries up to your PIP limit. Some states pay a set percentage of each bill. Florida PIP pays 80% of reasonable medical expenses. Covered treatment includes hospital bills, doctor visits, medical and surgical treatment, rehabilitation costs, and dental and optometric care if the injury affects teeth or vision.

PIP also covers transportation to medical providers, ambulance service, nursing services, prescribed medications, medical supplies, and prosthetic devices needed for recovery.

Lost Wages

PIP pays for lost income if an accident prevents you from working. The lost wages benefit applies whether you are employed or self-employed. For business owners, PIP also pays for temporary help to complete tasks while you recover.

Essential Services

PIP pays for substitute services when accident-related injuries prevent you from doing household tasks. Covered expenses include a cleaning service for your home, child care if you cannot care for your children, and other household responsibilities you would normally handle.

Funeral Expenses

PIP pays for funeral services, including burial or cremation expenses, when accident-related injuries result in death. In some states, PIP also pays a death benefit that replaces income for the dependents of the deceased.

Who PIP Covers

PIP covers you, relatives who live in your household, and passengers riding in your car. In most PIP states, PIP also covers pedestrians and other people outside a vehicle, such as cyclists, whom your car strikes. PIP also covers you when a car hits you while you are walking. Texas PIP is narrower. Texas PIP covers the named insured, members of the insured's household, and people riding in the insured vehicle.

What PIP Doesn't Cover

PIP does not pay for damage to your car, damage to other people's property, injuries from driving for work, or costs above your PIP limit.

PIP does not pay to repair your car. Collision coverage pays for damage to your car from a crash. Comprehensive coverage pays for a stolen car.

PIP does not cover injuries from driving for work, such as rideshare or delivery driving. PIP does not cover damage to another person's vehicle or property.

If you cause an accident and are responsible for property damage, your property damage liability insurance will pay for repairs.

PIP does not pay medical costs or lost wages above your PIP limit.

In a no-fault state, you can sue the at-fault driver for costs above your PIP limit only if your injury meets the state's threshold. The How Do PIP and No-Fault Claims Work? section explains the thresholds.

Which States Require PIP?

PIP is a required coverage in 14 states: the 12 no-fault states plus 2 add-on states, Delaware and Oregon. Texas and Maryland include PIP in every auto policy unless you reject or waive it. Washington requires insurers to offer PIP.

In a no-fault state, your own PIP pays for your injuries first, and your right to sue the other driver is limited. In the 3 choice states (Kentucky, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania), drivers can choose to keep more of their right to sue. Add-on states require PIP but do not limit lawsuits.

State rules as of September 2026.

No-Fault History and Florida's Costs

Many states introduced no-fault auto insurance in the 1970s to simplify determining fault in motor vehicle accidents, according to the Insurance Information Institute (III). 4 states later repealed their no-fault laws and returned to a fault-based system: Nevada (1980), Georgia (1991), Connecticut (1993, effective 1994), and Colorado (2003).

Florida drivers had the highest average auto insurance expenditure in the United States in 2023, about $1,864 per insured vehicle, according to the NAIC. That figure is about 45% above the $1,282 national average.

A 2011 report by Florida's Insurance Consumer Advocate blamed fraud and abuse for about $910 million in added PIP costs between 2008 and 2010. The report called the increase a "fraud tax" of nearly $1 billion. The estimate predates Florida's 2012 PIP reform.

Can You Reject PIP?

Only some states let you reject PIP. In Texas, PIP is part of every auto policy unless you reject it in writing. Maryland includes full PIP unless you sign a waiver. Kentucky lets you reject no-fault coverage in writing, which also means giving up no-fault benefits. Washington requires insurers to offer PIP but lets you turn it down in writing. Michigan drivers must carry PIP but choose 1 of 6 PIP medical levels, from unlimited (the default) down to $50,000 for Medicaid enrollees. Michigan drivers with Medicare Parts A and B can opt out of PIP medical coverage. Michigan's choices apply to policies issued or renewed after July 1, 2020.

How Much Personal Injury Protection Coverage Do You Need?

You need at least your state's minimum PIP, which ranges from $2,500 in Texas to $50,000 in New York. Buy more than the minimum if your health insurance would not cover crash injuries or if you could not afford to lose income while you recover.

3 questions help you decide whether to buy more than the minimum:

• Would your health insurance cover your crash injuries? Check its deductible and out-of-pocket maximum. In New Jersey, the Health Care Primary option makes your health insurance primary for auto-accident injuries and lowers your PIP premium. Medicare and Medicaid cannot be used for that option.

• How much income would you lose? PIP replaces only part of your pay, up to a cap. Florida pays 60% of lost income. Oregon pays 70% of lost income, up to $3,000 a month for 52 weeks. New York pays up to $2,000 a month for up to 3 years.

• Who rides with you? Each injured passenger or household member draws on the per-person limit.

PIP Deductibles

A PIP deductible is the amount you pay toward your own injury costs before your PIP benefits start. Not every state offers a PIP deductible. Where PIP deductibles exist, state law sets the choices:

A higher deductible lowers your PIP premium. New Jersey's auto insurance buyer's guide gives the example of a $2,500 PIP deductible cutting the PIP premium by 25%. A very high deductible can cancel out the coverage. Delaware's Department of Insurance warns that a quote with a $15,000 deductible on the $15,000 minimum PIP limit leaves you with no PIP coverage.

Your PIP deductible is separate from your health insurance deductible. If your health plan pays part of your accident bills, the health plan's own deductible and out-of-pocket maximum still apply.

PIP vs. Bodily Injury Liability

PIP and bodily injury liability both pay for injuries after a crash, but they protect different people. PIP pays for injuries to you and your passengers, no matter who caused the accident. Bodily injury liability pays for injuries you cause to someone else, such as the other driver, the other driver's passengers, or a pedestrian you hit.

PIP does not replace liability coverage. Most states require liability insurance whether or not they also require PIP.

How do PIP and No-Fault Claims work?

In a no-fault state, you file an injury claim with your own insurance company. Your PIP pays your medical bills and lost wages no matter who caused the crash. You can sue the at-fault driver for more only if your injury passes the state's threshold. 5 no-fault states use a verbal threshold, which describes how serious the injury must be: Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The other 7 no-fault states use a monetary threshold, which sets a dollar amount of medical costs: Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Utah.

In the add-on states, Delaware and Oregon, and in Texas and Maryland when PIP is on your policy, your own PIP pays first in the same way. Your right to sue the at-fault driver is not limited in those states.

In states without PIP, injury claims follow fault:

• If someone else hits you: The at-fault driver's bodily injury liability insurance coverage pays your medical expenses, up to the limits on their policy.

• If you cause the accident: Your Medical Payments (MedPay) coverage, if you carry it, pays your medical bills up to the limit you chose. Your bodily injury liability pays for the people you injure.

How to File a PIP Claim

To file a PIP claim, report the accident to your own insurance company, get medical treatment promptly, and send your insurer itemized medical bills and proof of any lost income.

Each state sets its own claim deadlines, so get treatment and notify your insurer quickly. In Florida, PIP medical benefits apply only if you get initial treatment within 14 days of the crash. In New York, you must give your insurer written notice of the accident within 30 days, and medical providers must submit bills within 45 days of treatment.

Request itemized medical bills from your healthcare provider. Itemized bills give the insurer a clear breakdown of your medical expenses and speed up the claim.

Some states also set a payment deadline. Florida insurers must pay PIP benefits within 30 days of written notice of the loss and its amount. Texas insurers must pay within 30 days of receiving satisfactory proof of the claim.

How to Add PIP to Your Policy

If PIP is optional in your state, ask your insurer or agent to include PIP when you buy or renew your policy. Choose a limit that fits your health coverage and your income. You can raise an existing PIP limit the same way at purchase or renewal.

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