No, Georgia is not a PIP state. Georgia repealed its no-fault insurance scheme in 1991 and now operates under a pure at-fault, or tort, system. There is no Personal Injury Protection requirement on Georgia auto policies, and injured drivers pursue compensation from the at-fault driver’s liability insurer rather than filing a first-party PIP claim under their own coverage.
That single difference changes how you handle a crash in Georgia, what coverage you should carry, and how quickly you need to move if you’re hurt.
What At-Fault Means for You After a Crash
In a no-fault state, your own insurer pays your medical bills and certain other losses through PIP no matter who caused the wreck. The tradeoff is a restriction on lawsuits: you generally cannot sue the other driver unless your injuries clear a serious-injury threshold or a minimum dollar amount in medical bills.
Georgia works the opposite way. There is no PIP requirement built into the policy, and there is no threshold you have to clear before suing. If another driver injures you, you go after that driver, or their liability insurer, for your medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, and vehicle damage. The upside is a full right to recover, including for non-economic losses. The downside is that nothing pays automatically. You may have to prove the other driver caused the accident before you see a dollar, and disputed fault can drag the process out.
How Medical Bills Get Paid Without PIP
Because Georgia has no PIP, there is no automatic coverage for your own medical bills after a crash. You generally have three paths to compensation.
The most common is a third-party liability claim against the at-fault driver’s insurer. You provide evidence of the other driver’s fault and your losses and negotiate a settlement. Nothing comes out of your pocket if the claim resolves, but the insurer has every incentive to minimize what it pays, and the money usually arrives at the end, not while you’re being treated.
The second is a first-party claim under your own policy. Collision coverage pays for your vehicle repairs minus the deductible. Medical Payments coverage, known as MedPay, pays medical bills regardless of fault. Your insurer can then chase the at-fault driver’s insurer through subrogation to recover what it paid.
The third is a lawsuit. Georgia places no restriction on your right to sue an at-fault driver, and suit becomes the right move when the insurer denies the claim, disputes fault, or offers far less than your losses justify.
MedPay is the coverage most drivers overlook, and in a state without PIP it does the closest job. It pays right away, which keeps you from falling behind on medical bills during the months a liability claim can take to resolve.
Fault Is Shared, and 50 Percent Ends the Case
Georgia uses modified comparative negligence. A jury assigns each party a percentage of fault, and your recovery is reduced by your share. A $100,000 award with you at 20 percent fault becomes $80,000.
The cutoff is 50 percent. If you are 50 percent or more responsible, you recover nothing.1Justia Law. Georgia Code 51-12-33 – Reduction and Apportionment of Award or Bar of Recovery According to Percentage of Fault of Parties and Nonparties Because there is no PIP backstop to pay your medical bills either way, the fault fight matters more in Georgia than in a no-fault state. Insurance adjusters and defense attorneys will look for anything that shifts blame toward you, from speeding to distraction to not wearing a seatbelt. Preserving dashcam footage, scene photos, and witness contact information early can be the difference between recovering your full losses and getting nothing.
Required Coverage on Every Georgia Policy
Every vehicle on Georgia roads must carry at least:
- Bodily injury liability of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident
- Property damage liability of $25,000 per accident
The minimums are commonly written as 25/50/25.2Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire. Auto Insurance Liability coverage pays the other driver’s costs when you are at fault. It does not pay for your own injuries or your own vehicle damage.
Those limits are low against real medical costs. A single ER visit after a crash can exceed $25,000, and a serious collision involving surgery or rehab can run into six figures. If your limits are exhausted and the injured person’s losses run higher, you can be sued personally for the difference. Higher limits like 100/300/100 typically cost far less than the exposure they cover.
Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage
Georgia law requires every auto liability policy to include uninsured motorist coverage unless the policyholder rejects it in writing.3Justia Law. Georgia Code 33-7-11 – Uninsured Motorist Coverage If you’re hit by someone with no insurance, or not enough insurance to cover your losses, your own UM/UIM coverage fills the gap.
By default the UM/UIM limits match your liability limits unless you choose lower amounts. You can reject UM/UIM entirely, but that leaves you exposed on Georgia roads. Once you reject it in writing, renewal policies do not have to add it back unless you affirmatively request it.3Justia Law. Georgia Code 33-7-11 – Uninsured Motorist Coverage
Optional Coverage Worth Adding
Since your own policy is the safety net when the other driver has too little insurance or when you’re partly at fault, several optional coverages are worth carrying.
- Collision pays to repair or replace your vehicle after an accident regardless of fault. If the other driver was at fault, your insurer can pursue their insurer for reimbursement.
- Comprehensive covers non-collision damage like theft, vandalism, hail, fallen trees, and animal strikes.
- MedPay covers medical expenses for you and your passengers regardless of fault. In a state without PIP, this is the closest equivalent, and it pays while the liability claim is still being negotiated.
The Deadlines That End the Case
Georgia sets hard time limits for filing a lawsuit after a car accident. Miss them and the court will dismiss the case no matter how strong it is.
- Personal injury claims: two years from the date of the accident.4Justia Law. Georgia Code 9-3-33 – Injuries to the Person
- Property damage claims: four years from the date of the accident.5Justia Law. Georgia Code 9-3-31 – Injuries to Personalty
Two years sounds like plenty. It shrinks fast once you factor in ongoing treatment, negotiations with the insurer, and time to understand the full extent of your injuries. Starting a claim early also preserves evidence: witnesses forget details, surveillance footage gets overwritten, and vehicles get repaired or scrapped.
These deadlines apply to lawsuits in court. Your insurance policy sets its own reporting deadlines, and those are usually much shorter, sometimes only a few days after the crash. Read the notice provisions in your policy and report promptly, even if you haven’t decided whether to file a claim.