No Fault States Explained: Which States Have It, What It Means, and Why Michigan Is Different

If you've moved between states, or you're shopping for insurance in one of these, the rules can feel like a different game. This guide covers what no fault means, which states use it, how the lawsuit limits work, and what makes Michigan's version the most unusual.

What "no fault" does and doesn't mean

Most states are at fault states. The driver who caused the accident is responsible, and their liability insurance pays the other driver's bills. In a no fault state, each driver turns first to their own policy for injuries. PIP typically pays medical expenses, and depending on the state it can also cover part of lost wages, essential services like childcare or housekeeping, and funeral costs.

Three things no fault does not mean:

• It doesn't mean fault disappears. Fault can still decide who pays for car damage, and insurers still look at who caused an accident when they price your next policy.
• It doesn't mean you can never sue. Each state sets a threshold, covered below, that lets you take someone to court after a serious injury.
• It doesn't mean every state works the same. The PIP amounts, the lawsuit rules and even whether you can say no to the system all differ by state.

The 12 no fault states and their PIP minimums

These are the required PIP amounts as reported by insurance comparison sites in 2024 and 2026. States change their minimums, so confirm the current number with your state's insurance department.

• Florida: $10,000
• Hawaii: $10,000
• Kansas: $4,500 for medical, plus disability, in home services, rehabilitation and funeral benefits
• Kentucky: $10,000
• Massachusetts: $8,000
• Michigan: you choose a medical limit (see below)
• Minnesota: $40,000 total, split between medical and lost income
• New Jersey: $15,000, with higher options
• New York: $50,000
• North Dakota: $30,000
• Pennsylvania: $5,000
• Utah: $3,000

A note on Florida. Florida's legislature considered repealing PIP again in 2026, but the repeal bills died in committee in March 2026, according to legal summaries of the session. As of this writing, Florida still requires $10,000 of PIP, and the next regular session starts in March 2027.

When you can still sue: the threshold

No fault states don't ban lawsuits. They set a bar, called a tort threshold, that an injury has to clear before you can sue the other driver for things like pain and suffering. It comes in two main forms.

A verbal threshold describes the kind of injury. New Jersey and Pennsylvania use this style, where the injury has to be severe, such as a permanent disability.

A monetary threshold sets a dollar amount of medical bills. Kentucky uses this style, and so does Massachusetts, where you can sue for pain and suffering only if your medical costs go over $2,000 or the injury is a death, fracture, loss of a body part, permanent disfigurement, or loss of sight or hearing.

The thresholds are written into each state's law, so ask your insurer or agent how yours works before you need it.

Three states let you choose

Kentucky, New Jersey and Pennsylvania are called choice no fault states, because drivers can pick how much of the system to use.

Kentucky. You can opt out of no fault, which keeps your right to sue the at fault driver but gives up PIP benefits.

New Jersey. Drivers choose between a basic and a standard policy, and can choose how much of their right to sue they keep, including an option for an unlimited right to sue. Ask your agent how each option changes your price.

Pennsylvania. You choose between limited tort and full tort. Limited tort lowers your premium, but you generally can't recover damages like pain and suffering unless your injury meets one of the exceptions in the law. Full tort keeps your full right to sue. If you never make a choice, the state treats you as having chosen full tort. Required medical benefits start at $5,000.

Massachusetts and Connecticut

Massachusetts is a no fault state. It requires $8,000 of PIP, which also covers 75 percent of lost wages and replacement services, and it applies to you, household members, passengers and pedestrians. Massachusetts raised its minimum liability limits in July 2025 to $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury, and $30,000 for property damage.

Connecticut is not a no fault state anymore. It had a no fault law and repealed it effective January 1994, so it's now an at fault state. Nevada and Georgia are two other states that had no fault laws and repealed them.

Why Michigan is different

Michigan's system has two features that set it apart from the other eleven: you choose how much PIP medical coverage you carry, and car damage works differently through something called mini tort.

Choosing your PIP medical level

Michigan lets drivers choose a level of PIP medical coverage. Each level is the most your insurer pays per person per accident:

• Unlimited
• $500,000
• $250,000
• $250,000 with exclusions, for people whose own health coverage covers auto accident injuries
• $50,000, for people enrolled in Medicaid
• Opt out, for people who have Medicare Parts A and B

If you don't choose, you get the unlimited level by default. The lower levels cost less, but they come with a real tradeoff: if your medical bills go past the limit you picked, the rest falls on you and your health insurance. The exclusion and opt out choices also depend on your health coverage, which has to meet the state's rules, so read the forms your insurer gives you before you sign. Our Michigan guide goes deeper on the choice.

Mini tort: the property damage rule

Most states handle your car damage through fault. Michigan adds a twist called mini tort, which lets a driver sue the other driver for part of the vehicle damage that insurance doesn't cover.

Here's how it works under the state's guidance:

• Who can be sued: a driver who is 50 percent or more at fault.
• How much: up to $3,000 in damages.
• What can be recovered: a driver who carries collision coverage on their own car can generally recover only their deductible. A driver without collision coverage can recover up to the full $3,000.
• Where it's decided: cases usually start in small claims or municipal court, though either side can ask to move to a higher court.

Say you rear end someone in Michigan and you're mostly at fault. The other driver's collision coverage repairs their car, and they pay a $500 deductible. Mini tort lets them go after you for that $500, and if they had no collision coverage, for up to $3,000 of their damage.

Michigan does not require insurance that pays a mini tort claim. If you're sued and you have nothing in place, the money comes out of your pocket. Many insurers offer an optional coverage called limited property damage liability, which pays mini tort amounts for you. If you live in Michigan, ask your agent about it.

Property protection insurance

Michigan also has a coverage called property protection insurance, which pays up to $1 million for damage your car does to other people's property in Michigan, like buildings and fences, and for damage to another person's properly parked vehicle. It doesn't pay for other damage to cars, which is where mini tort and collision coverage come in.

What to do with this

• Find out which kind of state you're in. Your state's insurance department website lists the PIP and lawsuit rules, and our [state rules page](/states) breaks down the ones we've covered in depth.
• Read your PIP limit. Check your declarations page, and see whether you have a choice to make that you've never looked at.
• If you live in a choice state, look at how your right to sue is set before a claim, not after.
• If you live in Michigan, review your PIP medical level and ask about limited property damage liability.
• If you're moving, expect the rules to change. Going from an at fault state to a no fault one, or the reverse, changes how a claim works.

The bottom line

No fault means your own policy pays your medical bills first, not that fault stops mattering. Twelve states use it, three of them let you choose how much of the system you keep, and Michigan layers on its own medical coverage choices and a mini tort rule for car damage. The details live in your state's law, so check your policy and your state's insurance department before you rely on any of this.