Delaware Car Accident Lawyer

How does Delaware PIP work after a crash?

Your own personal injury protection pays first. Every Delaware auto policy must include PIP, which covers reasonable medical expenses, lost earnings and certain other costs for you and your passengers regardless of who caused the crash.

PIP is designed for speed, not completeness. It has limits, it does not compensate for pain and suffering, and it can run out quickly after a hospital stay or surgery. You will need to file the PIP claim with your own insurer, provide medical bills and wage information, and keep doing so as treatment continues. Insurers may deny PIP payments they consider unrelated or unnecessary, and those disputes can sometimes be taken to arbitration.

Can you still sue the other driver in Delaware?

Yes. Delaware does not impose a tort threshold, so you can sue the at-fault driver for all losses PIP does not cover, including pain and suffering, without proving a permanent or serious injury.

There is one important limit: amounts your PIP coverage pays, or would pay, generally cannot be recovered again from the at-fault driver. The liability claim focuses on what is left, such as noneconomic damages, medical costs above your PIP limit, future care and lost earnings beyond what PIP replaced. Coordinating the two claims carefully avoids leaving money behind or creating a dispute about double recovery. Our team tracks each bill and wage loss to the right source.

What if the at-fault driver has little or no insurance?

Your uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage can step in. Delaware insurers must offer UM/UIM, and many drivers carry it, but limits vary widely.

Minimum liability policies are common, and serious injuries can exceed them quickly. UIM coverage pays the difference between the other driver's limits and your damages, up to your own UIM limit. Coverage from household members' policies may also apply in some situations. We review every available policy before advising you on a settlement offer, because accepting the at-fault driver's limits without following the right steps can affect your UIM rights.

How does Delaware's 51% rule apply at an intersection?

Your recovery is reduced by your share of fault, and you recover nothing if you are found more than 50% responsible. Intersection crashes are often the hardest to sort out, because each driver claims a green light.

Consider a crash at a busy signal on US-13 near Dover. You turned left on a yellow light, and an oncoming pickup driver accelerated to beat the red. A jury values your losses at $100,000 beyond what PIP paid.

• You are 30% at fault: you recover $70,000.
• You are 50% at fault: you recover $50,000.
• You are 51% at fault: you recover nothing.

Signal timing records, nearby business cameras and vehicle event data often decide which side of that line the case falls on.

Why are summer beach crashes common in Delaware?

Seasonal traffic to the Delaware beaches mixes local drivers with visitors who do not know the roads. Route 1 and US-113 carry heavy weekend traffic to Rehoboth Beach, Dewey Beach, Lewes and Bethany Beach.

Rear-end crashes in stop-and-go traffic, sudden turns into outlet parking lots, and crashes with pedestrians and cyclists in resort towns are frequent. Out-of-state drivers may have different coverage than Delaware residents, which can affect how PIP and liability claims are handled. If you were walking or cycling, see our pedestrian accident practice. If a tractor-trailer was involved, our Delaware truck accident page explains the added evidence.

What if you were hurt in an Uber or Lyft in Delaware?

Rideshare companies carry commercial insurance that generally applies once the driver is logged into the app, with the highest limits during an active trip. If the driver was offline, only their personal policy may apply.

Passengers can usually claim against the rideshare driver, the other driver, or both. PIP questions can be more complex in rideshare cases, so the order of payment needs careful review. See our rideshare and taxi accident practice.

What should you do in the days after a Delaware crash?

Open your PIP claim, get treatment and protect evidence before speaking to the other driver's insurer.

1. Call police after any crash involving injuries and get the report number.
2. Notify your own insurer and start the PIP claim promptly.
3. Get medical care and follow the treatment plan.
4. Photograph the scene, vehicles and visible injuries.
5. Contact our team for a free case review. Our Delaware injury overview covers other deadlines.