Plain definitions of the Pennsylvania injury terms that appear on this site. Each is the meaning as used in Pennsylvania, which is not always the meaning used elsewhere.
- Comparative negligence (modified)
- Pennsylvania’s rule for shared fault. You can recover as long as your share of the blame is not greater than the other side’s; your award is reduced by your percentage. At 51 percent you recover nothing. How it affects value
- Compromise and Release (C&R)
- The agreement that ends most Pennsylvania workers’ compensation claims. The insurer pays an agreed sum and you release further claims for that injury. A workers’ compensation judge must approve it. In detail
- Constructive notice
- Where a hazard existed long enough that a reasonably careful property owner would have discovered it, whether or not they actually did. Often decisive in fall claims. In detail
- Certificate of merit
- A written statement from a qualified professional, required within 60 days of filing a Pennsylvania malpractice case, saying there is a reasonable probability the care fell below acceptable standards. Without it the case is dismissed. In detail
- Discovery rule
- The principle that a limitation period can start when you knew, or reasonably should have known, that you were injured and that someone else may be responsible — rather than on the date of the event.
- Dram shop liability
- The liability of a licensed establishment that served alcohol to someone who was visibly intoxicated, where that service caused injury. The test is the person’s visible condition, not their blood alcohol reading. In detail
- First-party benefits
- Medical benefits paid by your own auto insurer regardless of fault. Pennsylvania requires at least $5,000 of cover. In detail
- Full tort
- The auto insurance election that preserves your right to claim for pain and suffering. Costs more than limited tort. In detail
- Hills and ridges doctrine
- A Pennsylvania-specific rule for falls on naturally accumulated snow and ice. A landowner is generally not liable unless the accumulation had formed into ridges or elevations that unreasonably obstructed travel, and they had notice of it. In detail
- Impairment Rating Evaluation (IRE)
- An examination that can be requested after 104 weeks of total disability benefits in a workers’ compensation claim. A rating below 35 percent moves you from total to partial disability status, which is capped at 500 weeks. In detail
- Invitee
- Someone on property for the owner’s business purposes — a customer, a tenant. Owed the highest duty of care in Pennsylvania premises law. In detail
- Limited tort
- The cheaper auto insurance election. It removes your right to claim for pain and suffering unless an exception applies — and several do, including serious impairment of body function and a DUI conviction of the other driver. In detail
- Negligent infliction of emotional distress (NIED)
- A claim for emotional harm caused by carelessness rather than physical injury. In Pennsylvania it must generally fit one of four routes: physical impact, zone of danger, bystander, or a pre-existing duty. In detail
- Specific loss benefits
- Workers’ compensation benefits paid for the loss, or permanent loss of use, of a body part — payable whether or not you have returned to work. In detail
- Statute of limitations
- The deadline for bringing a claim. Two years for most Pennsylvania injury claims; three years to file a workers’ compensation claim petition; six months’ notice for claims against a government body.
- Statute of repose
- An absolute outer deadline running from an event regardless of discovery. Pennsylvania’s seven-year repose for medical malpractice was struck down as unconstitutional in 2019. In detail
- Stacking
- Combining uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage across multiple insured vehicles to raise the available limit. Available in Pennsylvania unless you signed a waiver rejecting it. In detail
- Survival action
- A claim brought by an estate for what the deceased person themselves lost — their pain and suffering before death, and their lost future earnings. Distinct from the wrongful death action. In detail
- Underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage
- Your own coverage, which pays where the at-fault driver’s limits are too low to cover your losses. Frequently the largest available source of recovery. In detail
- Wrongful death action
- A claim compensating the statutory beneficiaries — spouse, children, parents — for their own losses following a death. Distinct from, and usually brought alongside, the survival action. In detail