Injured as a Passenger in a Car Accident: Who Pays Your Claim

A driver's claim is a fault argument before it is a damages argument. A passenger's claim usually is not. The passenger did not control the vehicle, did not choose the speed, and did not decide whether to run the light, so the insurers' usual defense, that the claimant shared responsibility, has nothing to attach to. The passenger's claim is about which driver was at fault and how much the injury is worth.

That does not mean the passenger's claim is simple. Insurers for the two drivers will often blame each other, and the passenger's claim can sit while they argue. The passenger does not have to wait for them to agree; the claim can be presented to both, and in most states the passenger recovers from each in proportion to its fault, or from either in full under joint liability rules.

The emotional complication is that the at-fault driver is often someone the passenger knows. People hesitate to claim against a friend or a relative. The claim is against the driver's insurance, not the driver's savings, and the policy exists for exactly this situation. Declining to claim protects the insurer, not the friend.

The first source is the liability coverage of whichever driver was at fault. If the other driver caused the crash, that driver's bodily injury liability coverage pays the passenger's claim up to its limit. If the driver of the passenger's own vehicle caused it, that driver's liability coverage pays, and most policies cover passengers; the common exclusion is for the named insured's own family members in some older policies, which has been restricted in many states.

The second source is uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. If the at-fault driver has no insurance or too little, the passenger can usually claim under the uninsured motorist coverage on the vehicle they were riding in, and separately under the uninsured motorist coverage on their own household auto policy. Which is primary and whether they stack depends on the policies and the state, and an attorney reads both.

The third source is the passenger's own first-party coverage: medical payments coverage on their household policy, or personal injury protection in no-fault states, which pays early bills regardless of fault. Health insurance pays what remains, usually with a right to reimbursement from any settlement. Rideshare passengers have an additional source in the rideshare company's policy, which provides substantial liability and often uninsured motorist coverage while a passenger is on a trip.

Suppose you were a front passenger in a friend's car when another driver ran a red light and struck it. Your friend was found 20 percent at fault for entering the intersection without looking. You suffered a fractured arm requiring surgery and a concussion, with $64,000 in medical bills and eleven weeks off work. The other driver carried a $50,000 per person policy; your friend carried $100,000.

Your claim was presented to both insurers. The other driver's insurer, with 80 percent of the fault, paid its full $50,000 limit. Your friend's insurer, with 20 percent, paid its share of the remaining value. Because the total exceeded what the two policies paid, your own household auto policy's underinsured motorist coverage was the next source, and it paid the balance. Your health insurer, which had paid most of the bills, asserted a lien that was negotiated down.

Had there been three injured passengers instead of one, the other driver's $100,000 per-accident limit would have been shared among them, and each claim would have relied more heavily on the host vehicle's coverage and each passenger's own underinsured coverage. All figures are hypothetical.

Passengers often assume the driver will handle everything. The driver's insurer does not represent the passenger, and the passenger's claim has its own deadlines and evidence.

• Get the police report number and the names, insurers and policy numbers of every driver involved, including the driver of the car you were in.
• Get medical care the same day and tell providers you were a passenger in a crash, so the records connect the injury to it.
• Photograph your injuries and, if you can, the vehicles and the scene; the driver's photos are the driver's evidence.
• Find out whether you or anyone in your household has an auto policy, and ask in writing what uninsured, underinsured and medical payments coverage it carries.
• Do not give a recorded statement to either driver's insurer until you know the extent of your injuries; the host driver's insurer may be adverse to you.
• Do not sign a release from either insurer for any payment before treatment is finished.
• If you were in a rideshare, screenshot the trip record and report the crash through the app.

In no-fault states, including Florida, Michigan, New York and New Jersey, a passenger's medical bills are paid first by personal injury protection, and which policy pays, the host vehicle's or the passenger's own, depends on the state's priority rules. A pain and suffering claim against an at-fault driver requires meeting the state's injury threshold, which applies to passengers exactly as to drivers.

Fault rules affect passengers in two ways. Where two drivers share fault, the passenger's recovery from each depends on whether the state applies joint liability, allowing recovery of the whole from either, or several liability, limiting each to its share. And in the contributory negligence states, Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia, a passenger who knowingly rode with an impaired driver can be barred entirely, which elsewhere would be a reduction.

Family exclusions and guest statutes vary. A few states still limit a passenger's claim against the driver of the vehicle they were in under old guest statutes or policy exclusions for household members, though most have abolished or restricted them. Deadlines are the state's injury statute of limitations, one year in Tennessee and Kentucky, two in Texas, California, Florida and Georgia, three in New York and North Carolina, and they run for the passenger from the crash regardless of what the drivers do.

The most common reason passengers do not claim is loyalty to the driver. It helps to be clear about what a claim does. It is made against the driver's insurer, under a policy the driver bought for this purpose. The insurer pays within the limit; the driver pays nothing unless the claim exceeds the policy, which is the situation the passenger's own underinsured coverage exists for. The driver's premium may rise after an at-fault crash whether or not the passenger claims, because the crash itself is on the record.

A passenger who does not claim bears the medical bills and lost wages that the policy would have covered. If the passenger's health insurer paid the bills, it may pursue the at-fault driver's insurer itself through subrogation, so the friend's insurer is often involved regardless.

Where the driver and passenger are spouses or parent and child, some older policies exclude claims between household members, and some states have limited those exclusions. An attorney reads the policy to find out.

A passenger claim is often a claim with more available coverage than the passenger realizes and more insurers than the passenger expects, each with a reason to point at another. Sorting out which policies apply, in what order, and whether they stack is the main work, and it has to be done before any insurer's early offer is accepted. Most personal injury attorneys work on contingency.

Ask Legal Matters is a free claim-review request service, not a law firm. Requests may be shared with independent attorneys and legal services partners who handle inquiries in your state, and an attorney must evaluate the facts and the policies before anyone can say what is recoverable. If you were hurt as a passenger and are not sure whose insurance applies, you can request a free claim review.

• Car Accident Claims in the United States: The Complete Guide
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• Motorcycle Accident Claims: Overcoming Rider Bias and Recovering Fully
• Airbag Did Not Deploy in a Crash: Can You Sue, and Whom?
• At Fault in a Car Accident? Comparative Negligence Explained
• What Is the Average Car Accident Settlement? What Sets the Value
• Back and Neck Injury Settlement After a Car Accident: Factors
• Bicycle Accident Claim: Hit by a Car While Riding
• Broken Bone Car Accident Settlement: What Drives the Value

Need local rules? Choose your state from the injury law guides hub or read the statute of limitations by state.