Glossary
No-fault insurance, defined
A system in which each driver's own carrier pays that driver's medical bills and certain other losses after a crash, regardless of who caused it, in exchange for limits on suing the other party. The coverage that does this is personal injury protection, and whether a state runs the system is set by that state, not chosen by the policyholder.
In practice
Of the four states this office serves, Utah is the one that runs this system; Arizona, Nevada and Idaho are at-fault states, where the driver who caused the crash pays through liability coverage. In Utah, personal injury protection pays first for the insured's own injuries; lawsuits for pain and suffering are allowed only above a threshold set by the state, which the Utah Insurance Department can confirm. Property damage is not part of the system, so vehicle repairs still follow fault. A driver who moves from Arizona to Utah will find the policy structure changes, and someone commuting between the two should have limits that make sense under both.
A worked example
Suppose two drivers collide in Utah and both are hurt. Each driver's own PIP pays that driver's medical bills up to its limit, say $3,000 each, without either carrier arguing about fault. Suppose one driver's bills reach $20,000; that driver may then pursue the at-fault driver's bodily injury liability for the rest. Hypothetical figures.
Applies to: Auto Insurance