How does “fault” matter in an accident?
Fault may affect your ability to recover damages, your liability for damages to others and your insurance rates. In automobile accident cases, no-fault insurance guarantees compensation by your insurance company regardless of fault for certain medical expenses and income losses up to the limit of your coverage. Even if you are at fault for an accident, comparative negligence laws may enable motorists to recover some damages. Under Pennsylvania law, if you are negligent, you may only be able to collect a certain percentage – or none at all – if you are at fault. Sometimes more than one person may be at fault for an accident. In this case, a percentage of liability is assigned to each negligent party before damages (if any) are awarded. Negligence is carelessness or the failure to use due care. Most personal injury lawsuits, including auto accidents fall into this category. A person is considered negligent if she or he acts carelessly or fails to act (negligent omission). Individual stat
