State guide · Northeast
Pennsylvania subrogation law guide
Recovery is reduced by the plaintiff's share and barred only when its negligence is greater than that of the defendants against whom recovery is sought; at exactly 50% the plaintiff recovers half.
Pennsylvania at a glancePA
- Property damage
- 2 years
- Bodily injury
- 2 years
- Fault rule
- Modified, 51% bar
- Gov. notice
- 180 days
Overview
Pennsylvania is a choice no-fault state, and the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law is the first thing a subrogation team must get right. Section 1720 bars subrogation or reimbursement from a claimant's tort recovery for first-party medical, income loss and funeral benefits, and for health benefits paid in lieu of them, while section 1722 keeps the claimant from recovering those amounts from the tortfeasor. Auto medical benefits are therefore not recoverable, but collision, rental and property damage subrogation proceeds normally. Self-funded ERISA plans are the exception after FMC Corp. v. Holliday. Everything else runs on short clocks: two years for injury and property damage under 42 Pa.C.S. 5524 and four years on written contracts. The fault rule is modified comparative with a 51% bar, and the Fair Share Act limits joint and several liability to defendants 60% or more at fault. Claims against Commonwealth and local agencies need six months' notice, and insurance offsets remove most property subrogation against municipalities.
Quick reference with citations
- Property damage SOL
- 2 years
- 42 Pa.C.S. 5524(4) and (7) (two years)
- Bodily injury SOL
- 2 years
- 42 Pa.C.S. 5524(2) (two years)
- Product liability
- 2 years (42 Pa.C.S. 5524) with a discovery rule for latent injury; no product statute of repose; 12-year repose for real property improvements (5536)
- Written contract
- 4 years
- Contract and indemnity recoveries
- Comparative fault rule
- Modified, 51% bar
- 42 Pa.C.S. 7102(a); Fair Share Act, 42 Pa.C.S. 7102(a.1)
- Government notice of claim
- 180 days
- 42 Pa.C.S. 5522(a): written notice within six months after accrual, filed with the government unit and, for Commonwealth agencies, the Attorney General; late notice may be excused for reasonable cause absent prejudice. Local agency damages are capped at $500,000 in aggregate (8553(b)), and insurance benefits the claimant receives are deducted from damages against a local agency (8553(d)). Commonwealth damages are capped at $250,000 per plaintiff (8528).
Fault rule in practice
How Pennsylvania's rule changes a $50,000 recovery.
Recovery is reduced by the plaintiff's share and barred only when its negligence is greater than that of the defendants against whom recovery is sought; at exactly 50% the plaintiff recovers half.
Authority: 42 Pa.C.S. 7102(a); Fair Share Act, 42 Pa.C.S. 7102(a.1)
| Insured's share of fault | Recoverable in PA | Under pure comparative |
|---|---|---|
| 0% | $50,000 | $50,000 |
| 20% | $40,000 | $40,000 |
| 50% | $25,000 | $25,000 |
| 60% | Barred | $20,000 |
Doctrines that move the number
Pennsylvania doctrine checklist.
Made-whole doctrine
Pennsylvania recognizes the made-whole doctrine as an equitable limit on reimbursement from the insured's recovery (Nationwide v. DiTomo, 1984), including for contractual subrogation. Some decisions treat an insured's voluntary settlement as fixing full compensation, which narrows the defense in practice.
Economic loss doctrine
Dittman v. UPMC (2018) held that the economic loss doctrine does not bar negligence claims for purely economic loss when the duty arises independently of contract. Tort recovery is unavailable when a product damages only itself; damage to other property is recoverable.
Joint and several liability
Under the Fair Share Act, each defendant pays only its own share unless it is 60% or more at fault. Joint liability also survives for intentional torts, intentional misrepresentation, hazardous substance releases and dram shop claims.
Anti-subrogation and waiver
The general rule bars subrogation against the carrier's own insureds and co-insureds. MVFRL section 1720 separately bars subrogation or reimbursement from a claimant's auto tort recovery for first-party medical, income loss and funeral benefits, except where ERISA preempts it for self-funded plans.
Practice notes
Working Pennsylvania subrogation files.
- 1
Screen every Pennsylvania auto file by coverage feature. First-party medical, wage loss and funeral benefits are not recoverable under section 1720, nor are health benefits paid in lieu of them, unless the payer is a self-funded ERISA plan. Collision, rental, towing and property damage are fully subrogable, and workers' compensation carriers kept their auto recovery rights after 1993.
- 2
Example under the Fair Share Act: a carrier pays $27,500 on a 2021 Subaru Outback after a Pittsburgh chain collision. The jury finds the insured 30%, Driver A 45% and Driver B 25% at fault. The carrier recovers 70%, or $19,250, but neither driver reaches 60%, so Driver A pays $12,375 and Driver B pays $6,875. An uninsured Driver B's share is lost.
- 3
Check the economics before serving the six-month 5522 notice. Because 8553(d) deducts insurance benefits from damages against a local agency, a carrier's paid loss is rarely recoverable from a township or municipal authority. The notice still protects the insured's uninsured loss and Commonwealth claims under the vehicle and real estate exceptions to immunity.
- 4
Two years under 5524 governs most property claims, and the discovery rule reaches only damage the insured could not reasonably have found. Written contracts run four years under 5525, or 20 years for instruments under seal, which can preserve a lease or construction indemnity claim after the tort claim lapses. Construction claims face a 12-year repose.
- 5
Ishqkala tags every Pennsylvania auto payment by coverage feature, so MVFRL first-party medical and income loss benefits are excluded from the Recovery Opportunity Manifest while collision, rental and property features are scored normally. Payments by self-funded ERISA plans are flagged separately for review under FMC Corp. v. Holliday and kept out of the standard demand workflow.
Key cases
FMC Corp. v. Holliday
498 U.S. 52 (1990)
Held that ERISA preempts MVFRL section 1720's anti-subrogation rule as applied to self-funded employee benefit plans, so those plans may recover from an auto tort recovery while insured plans may not.
Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. v. DiTomo
478 A.2d 1381 (Pa. Super. 1984)
Applied the made-whole doctrine: an insurer's subrogation interest in its insured's third-party recovery does not arise until the insured is fully compensated.
Dittman v. UPMC
196 A.3d 1036 (Pa. 2018)
Held that the economic loss doctrine does not bar negligence claims for purely economic loss where the defendant's duty arises independently of a contract.
Inter-company arbitration
Arbitration Forums resolves most Pennsylvania carrier-to-carrier collision and property disputes, compulsory for signatories up to $100,000 in total company-paid damages, applying the 51% bar and the Fair Share Act. AF's Medical Payments forum is compulsory only where state law permits medical payments subrogation, so section 1720 leaves little first-party auto medical recovery to arbitrate. In multi-vehicle losses, name every member company involved.
How Ishqkala applies this guide
PA rules, built into every score.
- Opportunities with a Pennsylvania loss state are calendared against the 2 years property damage period or the 2 years bodily injury period, whichever controls the claim type.
- The insured's estimated fault share is applied under modified, 51% bar before recoverable dollars are scored.
- Files involving a public entity get a 180-day notice deadline that outranks the general SOL in the priority queue.
- Alerts fire at 180, 90, 45 and 15 days before the controlling deadline.
Other modified, 51% bar jurisdictions
FAQ
Pennsylvania subrogation FAQ
2 years (42 Pa.C.S. 5524(4) and (7) (two years)). A subrogating carrier generally takes the insured's claim subject to the same limitation period, usually measured from the date of loss.
Modified, 51% bar (42 Pa.C.S. 7102(a); Fair Share Act, 42 Pa.C.S. 7102(a.1)). Recovery is reduced by the plaintiff's share and barred only when its negligence is greater than that of the defendants against whom recovery is sought; at exactly 50% the plaintiff recovers half.
42 Pa.C.S. 5522(a): written notice within six months after accrual, filed with the government unit and, for Commonwealth agencies, the Attorney General; late notice may be excused for reasonable cause absent prejudice. Local agency damages are capped at $500,000 in aggregate (8553(b)), and insurance benefits the claimant receives are deducted from damages against a local agency (8553(d)). Commonwealth damages are capped at $250,000 per plaintiff (8528).
Pennsylvania recognizes the made-whole doctrine as an equitable limit on reimbursement from the insured's recovery (Nationwide v. DiTomo, 1984), including for contractual subrogation. Some decisions treat an insured's voluntary settlement as fixing full compensation, which narrows the defense in practice.
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