6 Pennsylvania Rules That Decide Who Pays When a Pothole Wrecks Your Car

You hit a pothole on a Pennsylvania road, and the estimate for the damage comes in high.

Then comes the clock. A deadline to give the government written notice may already be running.

Here are the rules that decide who pays when a pothole wrecks your car.

Note: This is general information, not legal or insurance advice. Claim rules, deadlines and coverage terms are subject to change.

1. Car Damage on State Roads

State law bars you from recovering car-repair costs for a pothole on a state road.

Pennsylvania’s sovereign immunity law lists a pothole on a state road as one of the cases where you can sue.

But the same paragraph says, “Property damages shall not be recoverable under this paragraph.”

That’s the catch.

2. State Claim Denials

The state must deny the pothole property damage claims you file, except in very limited circumstances.

PennDOT’s claim page says the Bureau of Finance and Risk Management (FARM), part of the Department of General Services, decides these claims.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission decides claims for damage on its roadway, and it is barred the same way.

Its claim page says the sovereign immunity law prohibits the Commission from paying a pothole property damage claim.

Expect a denial either way.

3. Liability on Local Streets

A local agency can be liable for a pothole in a street it owns under the state's immunity law, which covers a dangerous condition of such streets.

You have to show the pothole created a reasonably foreseeable risk of the kind of harm you suffered.

You have to show the local agency had actual notice, or could reasonably be charged with notice, in time to protect against the pothole.

A court weighs that timing against the agency's equipment, personnel and facilities and the competing demands on them.

Notice is the hard part.

4. Municipal Contracts on State Routes

For a pothole on a state route, a municipality can be liable only if it has a written contract with a state agency to maintain and repair the street.

Even then, you must show the municipality's negligent performance under that contract directly caused the pothole, and the foreseeability and notice tests still apply.

Check whether your street is a state route before you count on a municipal claim.

Every condition has to hold.

5. Limits on Local Payouts

Under state law on damage limits, a local agency's bill for your pothole drops by any insurance benefits you received or are entitled to receive for the loss.

Property losses are among the damages the statute lists as recoverable.

Total damages from the same occurrence can't exceed $500,000.

That's the ceiling.

6. Six-Month Written Statement

Before you sue a government unit over a pothole, state or local, you must file a written statement with that unit within six months of the injury.

For a state agency, you must file with the Attorney General's office as well.

If you file nothing, the statute says a lawsuit started more than six months after the injury shall be dismissed.

There are two exceptions.

First, a court shall excuse the failure if you show a reasonable excuse for it, the same subsection says.

Second, for claims against local governments, a missed statement isn't a bar if the unit had actual or constructive notice of the incident or condition.

Auto Policy Coverage

Pennsylvania Insurance Department releases from 2011 and 2017 both put pothole damage to your car under collision coverage, which is optional.

Check your coverage.

The 2011 release added that coverage for tires may be limited if the vehicle itself wasn't affected by the pothole.

Claim Counts and Payouts

Drivers filed 774 pothole property damage claims with the state in 2014, according to figures TribLive reported from the state's risk and insurance bureau.

The count was 641 in 2015, 193 in 2016 and 220 in 2017.

A state spokesman said none of the claims from 2014 through 2017 received a payout.

If you file with the state, expect the same answer those drivers got.

Those numbers are what your claim would join.

Pittsburgh handled its claims differently. In 2017 the city received 46, approved 13 and paid $4,761.