Even if you’re living in any state that requires just NY no-fault insurance law, you might not completely know what no fault insurance actually is, and how it varies from the conventional, standard liability auto insurance system. And if you are thinking of shifting to some different state which requires no fault insurance, you might even have more complexity in understanding the variations in liability.
Before you buy a new no fault auto insurance policy, make sure that you understand what a no fault insurance is, and also your state’s specific necessities along with your personal needs.
What Is Meant by This No Fault Insurance?
At present, 10 U.S. states need no fault auto insurance (Hawaii, Florida, Kansas, Michigan, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, New Jersey, Utah and North Dakota). Three regions allow you for selecting no fault insurance: Kentucky, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania.
No-Fault automobile insurance has been around since the 1970’s when legislation granted individuals the right to pursue medical reimbursements from their own insurance company in case of any sort of automobile accident. Although no-fault wasn’t practiced much back in the 70’s, it gained momentum in the 90’s and some states opted for passing legislation that transformed them into No-Fault Automobile Insurance states. For the most part these legislations were trying to get rid of long term litigation processes required often after an accident and the spending of dollars for these legal practices. In present day America there are twelve states that have No-fault legislation with regards to automobile insurance. The no fault auto insurance states are: Florida, Hawaii, Kentucky, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Utah.
It is important to know that in a PURE no-fault automobile insurance system the driver would be 100% covered for any damages he or she makes and therefore, they wouldn’t have the need to sue another driver for anything. Although the state of Michigan comes pretty close to the “pure” version of no-fault coverage, none of the twelve states mentioned above have a truly “pure” system. They all use for the most part, little rules of the no-fault system and the regular standard liability system; in which you pay for the damages you cause. Because of this reason, it is important to understand your state’s regulations on automobile insurance and how they might be different from the pure no-fault system.
Another important thing worth mentioning is that some states will allow you to choose from the No-Fault insurance coverage and the standard liability system. One of these examples is the District of Columbia, where you can go with either coverage. This means however, that in the case of choosing the standard system, you will be required to purchase Personal Injury Protection Coverage, also known as PIP.
The No-Fault system, like every other legislation; has people that see it as a great idea and some others that completely oppose it and view it as extremely unnecessary. Supporters of no-fault insurance, base their claims in that the state would lose time and money to conduct hearings on every person that would go to traffic court in case of an accident. They also state that if you account for the money people would have to pay for court fees and proceedings, the drivers would be spending more than if their premiums were raised.