For the Minnesota Personal Lines exam, the Personal Auto Policy (PAP) is tested two ways: the national policy structure and the Minnesota auto laws layered on top of it. This standalone guide walks through the lettered parts every PAP uses, then focuses on the rules a Minnesota agent applies every day—the no-fault system and its mandatory personal injury protection, the tort threshold, modified comparative negligence, the 30/60/10 minimums, and the required uninsured/underinsured motorist coverages. Spend your study time on the Minnesota overlay; that is where the state questions live.

The national fundamentals (quick version)

The Personal Auto Policy insures individuals and families for the vehicles they own and drive. It is divided into clearly labeled parts:

• Part A — Liability Coverage: pays for bodily injury (BI) and property damage (PD) the insured is legally responsible for, with a duty to defend and defense costs commonly paid on top of the limit.
• Part B — Medical Payments: pays medical and funeral expenses for occupants regardless of fault (a role largely covered by PIP in no-fault Minnesota).
• Part C — Uninsured/Underinsured Motorists (UM/UIM): pays your injuries when the at-fault driver has no insurance or too little.
• Part D — Coverage for Damage to Your Auto: Collision and Other Than Collision (Comprehensive), each with a deductible, paid at Actual Cash Value (ACV).
• Part E — Duties After an Accident or Loss and Part F — General Provisions set the rules.

An insured generally includes the named insured, the resident spouse, resident family members, and anyone using the covered auto with permission (a permissive user). That skeleton is the same nationwide; Minnesota changes the fault system, the required coverages, and the dollar limits around it.

Minnesota is a no-fault state

Minnesota follows a no-fault auto system under the Minnesota No-Fault Automobile Insurance Act. The headline idea: after a crash, an injured person collects certain economic losses from their own insurer first, regardless of who was at fault. This is the opposite of a pure tort state, where the injured party must first prove the other driver's fault and collect from that driver's liability coverage. Expect the exam to test this distinction directly.

Mandatory personal injury protection (PIP)

The coverage that makes no-fault work is personal injury protection (PIP), also called basic economic loss benefits. Minnesota personal auto policies must include it, and it pays the insured's medical expenses and non-medical losses such as lost wages—no matter who caused the accident.

• The minimum PIP benefit is commonly cited as roughly $40,000 per person (verify the current statutory figure).
• That amount is generally described as about $20,000 for medical plus about $20,000 for non-medical/wage loss—two distinct sub-limits.

Under no-fault, the insured's own PIP pays medical bills first, before any question of the other driver's liability is sorted out.

The tort threshold

Because PIP absorbs routine losses, Minnesota limits when you can sue the other driver for pain and suffering. You generally must cross a threshold, such as a stated amount of medical expense (commonly cited around $4,000—verify) or a defined serious injury (for example, permanent injury or disability lasting beyond a set number of days). Minor fender-benders stay inside the no-fault/PIP system; serious cases can break out into a liability claim.

Modified comparative negligence

When a liability claim does proceed, Minnesota uses modified comparative negligence: a claimant's recovery is reduced by their share of fault, and a claimant who is more at fault than the other party is generally barred from recovery. This differs from a pure comparative system, where any at-fault claimant still recovers something.

Financial responsibility: the 30/60/10 minimums

Minnesota drivers must demonstrate financial responsibility, almost always by buying liability insurance meeting the minimum split limits commonly cited as 30/60/10 (verify current minimums):

• $30,000 bodily injury per person
• $60,000 bodily injury per accident
• $10,000 property damage per accident

Agents say this aloud as "30/60/10." These are bare-minimum floors—most clients should buy more. A high-risk driver may be required to file an SR-22 as proof of required coverage.

Both UM and UIM are required

Minnesota generally requires both uninsured- and underinsured-motorist coverages:

• Uninsured Motorist (UM) protects you when the at-fault driver carries no insurance or flees the scene (hit-and-run).
• Underinsured Motorist (UIM) applies when the at-fault driver has insurance, just not enough, paying the gap up to your UIM limit.

So a legal Minnesota policy bundles liability + PIP + UM + UIM as its mandatory core.

Physical-damage and optional coverages

• Collision pays for impact damage to your own vehicle regardless of fault. Comprehensive (Other Than Collision) pays for theft, fire, hail, vandalism, and striking an animal. Both are optional but usually required by a lender on a financed vehicle.
• Towing and labor coverage reimburses towing and on-site labor when the vehicle is disabled.

Required vs. optional coverages in Minnesota

Key Minnesota numbers to memorize

Common exam traps

• Minnesota is no-fault, not at-fault—and PIP is mandatory.
• Forgetting the tort threshold. Suing for pain and suffering requires crossing the ~$4,000 medical or serious-injury bar (verify).
• Listing only UM. Minnesota requires both UM and UIM.
• 30/60/10—don't transpose the $10k property-damage figure into a bodily-injury slot.
• Misstating the PIP split. The ~$40k minimum is roughly $20k medical + $20k non-medical/wage loss.
• Hitting an animal is Comprehensive, not Collision.
• Stating exact figures as fixed. Hedge the PIP, threshold, and limit numbers and verify the current statute.

Quick recap

• The PAP keeps its national Parts A–F structure; Minnesota changes the fault system, mandatory coverages, and limits.
• Minnesota is a no-fault state with mandatory PIP (≈ $40k per person, ≈ $20k medical / ≈ $20k non-medical).
• You can step outside no-fault to sue for pain and suffering only after meeting a tort threshold (~$4,000 medical or a serious injury).
• Liability uses modified comparative negligence, and financial-responsibility minimums are 30/60/10.
• Both UM and UIM are required. Verify the specific dollar figures, and the Minnesota auto section is manageable.