Kansas No-Fault Car Insurance

If you want to register and operate a car or other motor vehicle in Kansas, the law requires you to maintain certain minimum levels of auto insurance coverage on it. Kansas is also a "no-fault" car insurance state, which means your options are often limited if you're injured in a car accident, when it comes to the kinds of claims you can pursue. In the sections below, we'll summarize Kansas's no-fault car insurance system, and the minimum car insurance coverage requirements in the state.

Kansas No-Fault

Kansas is one of a dozen or so states that have legislated some form of a "no-fault" car insurance system. That means, after a car accident, your own basic no-fault ("personal injury protection" or "PIP") coverage pays for your medical bills and certain other out-of-pocket losses regardless of who caused the accident.

Specifically, the minimum benefits available to someone making a no-fault/PIP claim in Kansas are:

• $4,500 per person for medical expenses made necessary by the accident
• $900/month (for up to one year) for disability/loss of income resulting from the accident
• $25/day for in-home services (housecleaning, other chores) you can't perform because of your injuries
• $2,000 for funeral, burial or cremation expenses (if the injured person passes away), and
• $4,500 for rehabilitation expenses.

Kansas PIP coverage also includes "Survivor Benefits" for family members whose loved one has passed away as a result of the accident. These include:

• disability/loss of income up to $900/month (for up to one year), and
• in-home services up to $25/day for up to one year.

In Kansas, these PIP benefits are available to anyone covered under the policy (directly or indirectly), including:

• the policyholder
• the policyholder's family (in-household) members who are injured while driving the covered vehicle (or while riding as a passenger), and
• any non-family/non-household passengers injured while riding in the vehicle (unless those passengers have their own car insurance policy, in which case the passenger will make a claim under their own PIP coverage).

A key thing to understand about a no-fault/PIP claim is that you can't get compensation for your "pain and suffering" and other non-monetary damages stemming from the accident. You're limited to compensation for your medical bills and other economic losses, unless your injuries meet certain thresholds set by state law (we'll explain these in the next section).

Finally, while Kansas's no-fault car insurance system applies to injuries caused by car accidents, it has no bearing on vehicle damage claims. You can hold the at-fault driver liable for damage to (or total loss of) a vehicle after a car accident in Kansas, with no limitations.

Stepping Outside the No-Fault System in Kansas

As touched on above, in order to step outside of the no-fault car insurance system and pursue a case directly against the driver who caused the underlying accident, your claim must meet the thresholds set by state law. In Kansas, that means, as a result of the car accident, 1) you exceeded your PIP coverage for your medical expenses, and 2) your injuries qualify as "serious." Kansas defines "serious injuries" in this context as any of the following:

• permanent disfigurement
• fracture of weight-bearing bone
• compound, compressed, or displaced fracture of any bone
• permanent injury, or
• permanent loss of a body function.

If you meet these requirements, you have the right to hold the at-fault driver responsible for the accident by filing a third-party car insurance claim or personal injury lawsuit, and that means you can pursue compensation for all categories of losses, including pain and suffering and all other available non-economic damages (which, again, aren't available in a no-fault/PIP claim).

Now that you understand how no-fault car insurance works in Kansas, let's look at the state's requirements for different kinds of car insurance coverage.

Minimum Car Insurance Coverage Requirements in Kansas

In order to register and drive a motor vehicle in Kansas, you must carry certain minimum amounts of insurance on it. According to the Kansas Insurance Department, those minimums are as follows.

Liability coverage

• $25,000 per person for bodily injury (the maximum amount payable to one person for injuries resulting from an accident caused by the policyholder)
• $50,000 per accident for bodily injury (the maximum amount payable to all people injured in an accident caused by the policyholder).
• $25,000 per accident for other parties' vehicle damage and other property loss in an accident caused by the policyholder (does not cover damage to the policyholder's own vehicle).

No/Fault Personal injury Protection (minimum benefits are detailed above)

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage

• $25,000 per person
• $50,000 per accident (Learn more about uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage.)

Keep in mind that, if you are found responsible for causing a car accident, and the injured drivers' and/or passengers' losses exceed the limits of your car insurance policy, you may find yourself personally responsible for making up the difference out of your own assets.

For more details on the state's car insurance rules and requirements, check out the Kansas Insurance Department's Introduction to Auto Insurance page.