The mistake starts when the ER or clinic tells you to use auto insurance for crash treatment, then the insurance adjuster turns around and says a parking lot or other private property wreck is "not really no-fault." They use that confusion to push a cheap settlement or delay payment.

In North Dakota, no-fault/PIP usually does apply to auto accidents even on private property, including many parking lot crashes in Minot. The minimum PIP coverage is $30,000. That coverage is for medical bills, lost wages, and replacement services, no matter who caused the wreck, up to your policy limits.

So what is the claim worth? There is no fixed number. It depends on two separate buckets of money:

• PIP benefits: up to the policy limit, often $30,000 minimum
• Liability claim against the other driver: for losses above PIP, including pain and suffering, if your injuries meet North Dakota's threshold or your losses exceed no-fault coverage

A low-speed parking lot hit in Minot with a few urgent care visits may be worth only the available PIP medical and wage-loss benefits. A trailer hitch, contractor truck, or landscaping rig crash that causes missed shifts, physical therapy, or imaging can be worth much more because the claim can spill beyond PIP.

The correct approach is to treat the "private property means no claim" line as a red flag. Open your PIP claim immediately, track every missed hour of work, and save the estimate, photos, witness names, and treatment records. If the wreck happened near a business lot and police did not respond, get the incident details pinned down fast before camera footage disappears.

And if the adjuster is stalling because it's year-end and your policy is renewing, do not assume delay kills the case. In North Dakota, injury lawsuits generally have a 6-year deadline, but waiting still costs money because wage proof and medical records get harder to tie together over time.