Key Takeaways:
- Under Pennsylvania’s comparative negligence rules, you can still recover compensation if you’re 50% or less at fault.
- Your compensation is reduced by your share of fault, so being 20% at fault on a $100,000 claim means recovering up to $80,000.
- Insurers often push your share of the blame higher, so evidence like police reports, video, and witness statements matters.
You can recover compensation in Pennsylvania even if you’re partially at fault for an accident. People often assume they can’t recover damages because of persistent legal myths, confusing insurance language, and aggressive insurers.
Most of the confusion stems from a somewhat archaic legal doctrine called pure contributory negligence. Under this strict rule, an injured person is barred from recovery if they are only 1% at fault. Few states still enforce or use this law.
Pennsylvania uses modified comparative negligence rules (42 Pa. C.S. § 7102), which permit compensation for any party who’s less than 51% responsible for the accident. Some confusion persists because of the state’s choice no-fault insurance system, which pays first-party medical benefits regardless of fault but doesn’t decide who’s responsible for the accident.
Understanding the difference between these laws and rules when you share partial fault for an accident is critical to your recovery efforts.
No Win, No Fee
When you’re partially at fault for an accident, insurers often argue even minor details to push your share of fault to 51% or higher. Backed by more than 50 years of experience, Segal, Berk, Gaines & Liss understands the role fault percentages play in the legal fight for compensation. We also know that organizing legal arguments, collecting evidence, and complying with filing deadlines is a lot to ask of anyone who’s injured. We take on the financial burden and the administrative work, and our no win, no fee policy means you don’t pay unless you win.
How Pennsylvania’s Comparative Negligence Rules Work
Pennsylvania’s modified comparative negligence guardrail is a mathematical framework that determines whether an injured person can collect money after an accident and the maximum compensation they can receive based on their share of the blame.
In other words, if your contribution to the accident isn’t greater than the combined negligence of the defendant(s), you can still recover compensation. However, any compensation is reduced in proportion to your level or percentage of responsibility.
Assume, for example, that compensation for an accident is $100,000. You’re 20% at fault for the accident. So your compensation potential is $100,000 less 20%, or $80,000. Even if partial fault for the accident is 50%, you can still recover up to $50,000.
When you’re 51% or more at fault, you no longer have a legal right to recover compensation. Pennsylvania’s statute sets this absolute bar regardless of the severity of your injuries.
Determining fault and its percentage is challenging. While the state’s modified comparative negligence rules promote fairness, they also motivate both sides to shift blame. Segal, Berk, Gaines & Liss can help you build a strong compensation claim backed by evidence and paper trails to challenge an inflated fault percentage.
How Insurers Use Shared Fault Against You
Many insurance companies are for-profit corporations. A common insurer strategy is to shift blame and reduce its financial responsibility, which often means arguing you’re at fault for the accident, sometimes more than the facts support.
If the insurer can gather enough statements or minor details to argue you’re 51% or more at fault, they can deny your claim. Some claimants drop their claim when faced with a denial letter because they assume an insurer’s decision is final and fair.
Understand that insurance adjusters are employees or third-party contractors working for an insurance company. These professionals aren’t your friends. Their job isn’t to make sure you receive fair compensation; it’s to limit their employer’s financial exposure.
Everything you say or post to social media is fair game during claim investigations. Adjusters may even talk to your friends and relatives and scour their public profiles to find anything that takes you from sharing partial fault for the accident to being completely at fault for the accident.
As a claimant, realize that what you say and how you say it has consequences. An insurance company can use the nuance in casual conversation to frame an argument to increase your share of the blame. Even a statement like “I’m sorry this happened” can be taken out of context and misconstrued into an acceptance of fault.
Insurers know how to use comparative negligence rules to their advantage. Your job when filing a claim is learning how to protect it and maximize your recovery potential.
How To Protect Your Claim When Fault Is Disputed
To protect your claim if an insurer disputes your percentage of fault, you and your attorney need to show evidence that supports your compensation request. When you’re partly at fault for an accident, there may be documents, pictures, data, or witness statements to corroborate your position, and your attorney has the resources to collect them.
Police and Accident Reports
After an accident, the responding officer’s crash report is one of the first documents an insurer reviews. It typically includes the officer’s observations at the scene, statements from the drivers involved, and whether anyone received a citation. You’ll want to request a copy as soon as it’s available and have your attorney review it for errors or missing details.
Photos and Video Footage
If you’re able to, take pictures of the vehicles, the road, and any nearby traffic signs before anything is moved. Video is even more useful, since a few seconds of footage may change how fault is divided under Pennsylvania’s comparative negligence rules. Across Philadelphia, many businesses and homes have security cameras, showing who was really at fault for the accident. Understand that this footage doesn’t last forever; many systems record over it after a few days or weeks.
Vehicle and Phone Data
Most modern vehicles have an event data recorder, sometimes called a black box. In a partial fault accident, the speed and braking data from these devices can confirm or contradict what each driver says happened. If distracted driving is suspected, your attorney may also request the other driver’s phone records.
Witness Statements
Witnesses don’t have a stake in the outcome, which is why insurers and juries tend to take their accounts seriously. Get the names and phone numbers of anyone who saw the accident. A single witness who saw the other driver speeding or looking at their phone can influence how insurers and attorneys argue fault.
How Segal, Berk, Gaines & Liss Can Help
Being partly at fault for an accident doesn’t mean you can’t recover compensation. With the right evidence and an experienced attorney, you can challenge insurance denials and inflated fault percentages. Segal, Berk, Gaines & Liss is here to help. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation at your home or over video.
About Derek Liss, Esq.
Derek Liss, Esq., is a partner at Segal, Berk, Gaines & Liss, specializing in personal injury law.
Derek earned his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from The George Washington University in 1991 and his Juris Doctor from Widener School of Law in 1994. He joined Segal, Berk, Gaines & Liss immediately after law school and brings 30 years of legal experience to his clients.
A member of the Philadelphia Bar Association, he practices throughout the greater Philadelphia region and is admitted to practice in the courts of Pennsylvania and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
