Maryland PIP Statute: Coverage, Waivers, and Claims

The Maryland PIP statute requires every auto insurance policy sold in the state to include at least $2,500 in Personal Injury Protection unless the first named insured signs a written waiver or rejection. PIP is no-fault coverage: it pays your medical bills, 85% of lost wages, essential household services, and funeral costs after a car accident regardless of who caused the crash. The rules sit in Sections 19-505, 19-506, and 19-506.1 of the Maryland Insurance Code, and the details around who is covered, how to waive it, and how to file a claim are where policyholders most often get tripped up.

What PIP Pays For

Maryland’s PIP statute bundles four categories of benefits into a single coverage pool. At the $2,500 minimum, expenses incurred within three years of the accident are eligible:¹

Reasonable and necessary medical and related expenses, including hospital stays, surgery, dental work, X-rays, ambulance transport, professional nursing, prosthetic devices, and rehabilitation.
85% of income lost as a result of the accident, available to anyone earning or producing income at the time of the crash.
Reasonable costs to hire someone to take over essential household services (childcare, home maintenance) if the injured person was not earning income but was doing that work.
Funeral expenses if the accident results in a fatality.

The 85% wage figure catches people off guard. If you were earning $1,000 a week, PIP pays up to $850 a week in lost wages, not the full amount. And every category above draws from the same $2,500 pool at the minimum level. A single emergency-room visit can burn through it, leaving nothing behind for wage loss or household help. That’s the case for buying up.

Minimum Coverage and Buying More

The statutory floor is $2,500 in combined PIP benefits per person, and insurers must offer that minimum with every auto policy.¹ Higher tiers are available. The Maryland Insurance Administration’s required options form lays out what your insurer is offering when you buy or renew.² Since PIP pays regardless of fault, the benefits apply even if you caused the accident. The premium increase for higher limits is usually modest next to liability coverage.

Who PIP Covers

Three groups are protected in connection with an insured vehicle:¹

The named insured and household family members, while driving or riding in the insured vehicle, subject to any waiver or rejection.
Passengers in the insured vehicle at the time of the crash, whether or not they have their own auto insurance.
Pedestrians and cyclists struck by the insured vehicle.

One exclusion catches multi-car households in particular. If you or a household family member is injured while riding in an uninsured motor vehicle that you or that family member owns, the insurer can deny PIP.¹ Owning a second car without coverage and getting hurt in it is the classic scenario. Your other policy will not fill that gap.

Waiving or Rejecting PIP

Maryland gives policyholders two separate ways to decline PIP, and the difference matters.

Waiver Under Section 19-506

A waiver is an affirmative, written decision by the first named insured. Without a signed waiver, the insurer must include PIP automatically.³ Before a waiver becomes effective, the insurer has to give you written notice explaining what PIP covers, the extent of its benefits, and the cost of the coverage. A waiver signed without that notice is not valid, which is worth checking if you waived years ago and now wish you hadn’t.

A waiver reaches further than the person who signs it. Once in effect, it applies to every named insured on the policy, every listed driver, and every household family member aged 16 or older. Two limits soften that reach. Passengers and pedestrians injured in an accident involving the vehicle are still covered even when you have waived your own benefits. And a listed driver or household family member bound by your waiver can still collect PIP under a different policy where they are the first named insured and have not waived.³

Rejection Under Section 19-506.1

A rejection runs deeper. It stays in effect through the policy term and carries over automatically at renewal unless you tell your insurer in writing that you want PIP back.⁴ It ends automatically if you switch insurers or raise your liability coverage above Maryland’s minimum. The risk is quiet: someone who rejected PIP years ago and forgot may still be uncovered today, because coverage does not silently reappear at renewal.

How to File a PIP Claim

A PIP claim is more straightforward than a fault-based injury claim, but the deadlines are strict.

Deadline and Notice

You must notify your insurer in writing that an accident occurred. Once the insurer receives that notice, Maryland regulations require it to tell you the latest date you can submit an original claim for benefits, tied to Section 19-508 of the Insurance Code.⁵ The widely understood deadline is one year from the date of the accident. Do not wait for treatment to finish before filing. File early, then supplement with additional bills as treatment continues.

What to Send In

Most insurers use a specific PIP application form. Complete it fully and include:

Copies of hospital invoices, doctor visit bills, pharmacy receipts, and treatment records tied to the accident.
Proof of lost wages: pay stubs, employer letters, or tax returns showing pre-accident income. The insurer needs those numbers to calculate the 85% figure.¹
A written description of how the accident happened and the injuries you sustained. Include the police report number if you have one.

Watch what else your insurer asks you to sign. Some claim packets include broad medical-records releases that let the insurer pull your entire medical history from your doctors, not just records tied to the crash. You are not required to sign those blanket authorizations to receive PIP benefits.

How PIP Interacts With Other Money After a Crash

Health Insurance

If you have both PIP and health insurance, which one pays first depends on your specific policy language. Section 19-507 of the Insurance Code addresses coordination with other coverage. In many cases, health insurance covers medical bills first, which preserves your PIP for costs health insurance won’t touch, such as lost wages and household services. Some policies flip this and have PIP pay first, so read your coordination-of-benefits clause before you assume.

Subrogation

Subrogation is your insurer’s right to seek reimbursement from the at-fault driver, or that driver’s insurer, for PIP benefits it already paid you. Whether your insurer has that right in a given case depends on the policy terms and has generated litigation, including the Maryland Court of Appeals case Erie Insurance Exchange v. Heffernan.⁶ Practically: if you accept PIP and later recover from the at-fault driver, your PIP insurer may be entitled to reimbursement out of that recovery. Ask your insurer about its subrogation position before you settle a third-party claim.

Lawsuits Against the At-Fault Driver

PIP does not block you from suing the at-fault driver for damages PIP doesn’t cover, such as pain and suffering, permanent disability, or medical bills that exceed your PIP limit. Because PIP pays regardless of fault, it also provides a cash cushion while a liability claim plays out, reducing the pressure to accept a low settlement offer.

Maryland is one of a handful of jurisdictions still using contributory negligence, meaning any share of fault on your part bars recovery from the other driver entirely.⁷ PIP is the fallback: it pays even when contributory negligence destroys the tort claim, because PIP does not depend on fault. Note that PIP payments already received may be deducted from a final settlement or jury verdict to prevent double recovery. Between that offset and any subrogation claim, the math on settling can get complicated, and running the numbers before you sign is worth the time.

If the Insurer Won’t Pay

Maryland’s Unfair Claim Settlement Practices statute requires insurers to make a prompt, fair, and equitable effort to settle claims where liability is reasonably clear.⁸ Since PIP is no-fault, the liability question is usually straightforward, so unreasonable delays and lowball denials are exactly what the statute targets.

If your PIP claim is unreasonably delayed, wrongly denied, or underpaid, the Maryland Insurance Administration accepts consumer complaints online, by mail, and by fax.⁹ Include your name and contact information, the insurer’s name, your policy and claim numbers, a detailed explanation of the problem, and copies of denial letters, medical records, and anything else supporting your position. The MIA’s involvement does not guarantee an outcome, but insurers tend to respond more seriously once a regulator is looking on.

1
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Insurance Code Section 19-505 – Personal Injury Protection Coverage — in General
2
Maryland Insurance Administration. Required Notice of Personal Injury Protection Coverage and Options Selection Form
3
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Insurance Code Section 19-506 – Personal Injury Protection Coverage — Waiver
4
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Insurance Code Section 19-506.1 – Personal Injury Protection Coverage — Rejection
5
Legal Information Institute. COMAR 31.15.07.05 – Time for Filing Claim for Personal Injury Protection Benefits
6
FindLaw. Erie Insurance Exchange v. Heffernan II (2007)
7
Maryland Department of Legislative Services. Contributory Negligence, Comparative Fault, and Joint and Several Liability
8
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Insurance Code Section 27-304 – Unfair Claim Settlement Practices — General Business Practice
9
Maryland Insurance Administration. Appeals and Grievance