The Personal Auto Policy (PAP), which was drafted by the Insurance Services Office, is used as a model for auto insurance policies across the United States. It replaces the older 1998 form.

Eligible Vehicle

Not all vehicles qualify for coverage under PAP.

Your Covered Auto

Summary of Coverages

• Part A: Liability Coverage
• Part B: Medical Payments Coverage
• Part C: Uninsured Motorists Coverage
• Part D: Coverage for Damage to Your Auto
• Part E: Duties after an Accident or Loss
• Part F: General Provisions

In the insuring agreement, the insurance company agrees to pay for certain damages you are legally responsible for as a result of an accident. The damages are usually stated in split limit form.

The split limit form is listed in numerical format. It looks like this: 300/500/300. The first number is the amount of bodily injury coverage for each person. The second number is the maximum total bodily injury coverage per accident. The third number is the property damage liability coverage. The numbers are stated in one thousand dollar increments. Thus, with 300/500/300, the coverage would be $300,000 per person for bodily injury coverage, $500,000 per accident for bodily injury coverage, and $300,000 property damage for liability coverage.

The insurance company also agrees to defend you to the extent of your liability coverage amounts. This duty ends when the liability limits are reached by payment of a judgment or settlement. The duty to defend only extends to claims covered by the policy.

There are four groups that are insured under the liability section of the Personal Auto Policy (“PAP”). These groups include:

• You (i.e., the person named in the insurance policy as the insured) and any family member who resides with you,
• Any person using the your insured vehicle with your permission,
• Any person or organization legally responsible for your use of your car on behalf of that organization, and
• Any person or organization legally responsible for your or your family members’ use of any vehicle other than the vehicle you have insured.

Assuming that you are married and your spouse is not listed as an insured person on the policy, the first category includes your spouse if she lives with you. If you separate from your spouse, your spouse is covered for 90 days or until she obtains her own insurance.

The first category also includes others who live with you. This includes those related to you by blood, marriage, or adoption. Foster children are included.

The second category includes anyone who has permission to use your car. This can include anyone who can show that they had a reasonable belief that they could use your car, even if they did not actually have your permission.

The third category usually applies to employers for whom you use your car. It provides coverage to your employer.

The fourth category applies to situations in which you drive other people’s cars. This does not cover situations in which you drive your employer’s car.

The insuring agreement usually includes medical payments coverage. With this coverage the insurance company will pay all reasonable medical and funeral expenses incurred by you for services rendered. The services must be rendered within three years from the date of the accident.

Expenses that are covered include the following expenses:

• Medical,
• Surgical,
• X-ray,
• Dental, and
• Funeral.

This coverage pays regardless of fault. Thus, you can be at fault for an accident and the coverage still applies.

In the insuring agreement, with Part C coverage, the insurance company agrees to pay any compensatory damages that you are legally entitled to receive from the owner or operator of an uninsured car. Thus, this coverage applies when you are hit by a hit-and-run driver or a negligent driver whose insurance company is insolvent.

The damages must be because of bodily injury caused by an accident. The damages include medical bills, lost wages and payment for permanent disfigurement because of the accident.

Coverage only applies if the uninsured driver is legally liable for the accident. The insurance company’s liability for an accident is the amount show on the declarations page.

This coverage also pays for property damage in some states.

The insuring agreement can also provide for certain supplementary payments. These payments include:

• Up to $250 for bail bond costs,
• Premiums on appeal bonds and other bonds,
• Interest on judgments,
• Up to 2400 a day for the loss of earnings, and
• Other reasonable expenses.

The Personal Auto Policy (“PAP”) includes a lengthy list of exclusions. These exclusions include:

• Intentional injury or damage,
• Property owned or transported,
• Property rented, used or in your care,
• Bodily injury to your employees,
• Use of your car as a public conveyance for the general public (i.e., a taxi),
• Use of your car in working for the automotive industry or with cars (such as car sales),
• Other non-farming and non-ranching business vehicles,
• Use of your car by a person without reasonable belief that they have your permission to use your car,
• Use of a vehicle with less than four wheels or that is to be used primarily off-road,
• Use of a car that is furnished or made available to you on a regular basis,
• Use of a car regularly used by a non-spouse family member,
• Use of a car used in racing in a designated racing facility.

In addition to the liability coverage set out in the insuring agreement, the insurance policy will cover additional amounts in some situations. One is where you have an accident in a different state that has higher liability limits set out in a financial liability law. In that case, your insurance policy will pay the higher liability limits of the state in which you have the accident.

Medical payments coverage covers you. You are covered when occupying any car that is designed to operate on public roads. You are also covered if you are injured as a pedestrian.

The coverage also extends to passengers who are in your car while you are driving. If you are not driving someone else’s car, only you are covered.

The insuring agreement includes several exclusions for medical payments coverage. These exclusions include:

• Any car that has fewer than four wheels,
• When your car is used as a means of transportation for the public (i.e., a taxi),
• When your car is being used as a residence,
• When your car is being used during the course of your employment,
• For a different car that is furnished or made available to you,
• When your car is regularly made available to a non-spouse family member,
• When someone uses your car without a reasonable belief that they have your permission to do so,
• Any car that is being used for your business,
• Injury from a nuclear weapon or radiation or war,
• Any car located inside a racing facility for the purpose of racing.

With Part C uninsured motorists coverage, there are three people who are covered. This includes:

• You (the insured) and your family members who are injured by an uninsured driver,
• Anyone else who was occupying your car, and
• Anyone legally entitled to recover damages for bodily injury to the above people.

With Part C uninsured motorists coverage, an uninsured vehicle includes:

• A car or trailer not insured by a bodily injury liability insurance policy at the time of the accident,
• A car or trailer insured by a bodily injury liability insurance policy at the time of the accident that is less than the amount required by the state’s financial responsibility law in the state in which the car is garaged,
• A car or trailer insured by a bodily injury liability insurance policy at the time of the accident when the insurance company denies coverage or becomes insolvent.
• A car or trailer that is unidentified (i.e., a car or trailer in a hit-and-run),