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Bodily Injury Liability Coverage (Updated May 2022)
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Edited by Jackie Cohen
Last Updated April 22, 2022
Each year, about one percent of all drivers file a bodily injury liability claim, according to the Insurance Information Institute (III). Though the risk seems small, all things being equal, you have a 26 percent chance of filing a claim over 30 years. So it’s important to know what bodily injury protection is, what it covers, and how much you need. Luckily, we cover all of that below.
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When you’re at fault for a car accident, your bodily injury car insurance coverage kicks in to cover medical bills and more for the people you injure in the incident.
Bodily injury liability insurance is one part of your liability car insurance policy. It covers the financial costs of damages you cause to another person’s body while driving. If you injure someone in a car accident you’re at fault for, it’s your bodily injury protection that kicks in to cover those losses.
Exactly what it covers and how much it covers will depend on how you design your car insurance policy. It can also depend on your state. In no-fault states, for example, each driver is responsible for covering their minor medical bills and those of their passengers, no matter who is at fault for the accident.
Always check with your insurance agent if you have any questions about what your policy covers.
Bodily injury liability insurance is meant to protect you and the people around you from large financial losses. Because any car accident can be life-changing—physically and financially—drivers are often required to carry insurance policies that buffer these losses.
Without this type of liability coverage, at-fault drivers and the victims in a car accident could both be bankrupted by a single incident.
What’s covered and not covered by bodily injury protection varies depending on your policy and state regulations. That being said, there are a few things that are usually covered under this type of coverage:
Keep in mind that your liability protection may not cover you if you were breaking the law. For example, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs can void your insurance. Exclusions like this should be listed in the “exclusions” section of your policy documents. Be sure to ask questions about exclusions if you’re unsure how your policy works.
Bodily injury protection covers medical costs for the people you injure in an at-fault accident. That includes:
But there’s one person who’s not on this list: you. In most cases, you are not covered by your bodily injury protection coverage. Depending on state laws, your medical bills can be covered by:
If you live in a no-fault state, the injuries to passengers in your car may be covered by PIP insurance.
The coverage limits for bodily injury protection vary according to the policy. Every policy will state its exact limits, both the limit per injured person and the limit per accident. These limits are represented most often this way:
Bodily injury coverage per person / Bodily injury coverage per accident
If your bodily injury coverage limits are “25/50,” you’re covered for $25,000 of bodily injury protection per person and $50,000 of bodily injury protection per accident. So, if three people sustain damages of $25,000 (for a total of $75,000), you’re stuck covering a third of those costs. Even though each person’s loss is within your coverage limit, the total loss exceeds the total coverage limit per accident.
Both coverage types come with their own coverage limits and fine print about what is and isn’t covered. The reason you see property damage combined with bodily injury is because they’re both part of liability insurance—the type of insurance that protects you when you make a mistake. Liability insurance coverage limits are split limit, represented shorthand this way:
Bodily injury coverage per person / Bodily injury coverage per accident / Property damage liability coverage
So a “100/300/100” policy covers you for $100,000 of bodily injury liability per person, $300,000 of bodily injury liability per accident, and $100,000 of property damage liability.
How much coverage you need—i.e., your coverage limit—depends on a few factors. First, you need the minimum amount to meet legal insurance requirements. No insurance company will issue a policy that doesn’t meet state requirements, so you’ll always get coverage that at least meets state minimum limits. But should you carry more than the minimum?
Most of the time, it’s a great idea to carry higher policy limits. Increasing your limits gives you a ton of added protection should you cause a serious accident. Even minor accidents can come with expensive medical bills. Consider this: you hit a car with a driver and three passengers. Each person seeks $15,000 in medical expenses, a total of $60,000.
In most states, this amount would exceed minimum liability coverage by $10,000 or more. When your coverage limits run out, you’re stuck paying what’s left. This is why we recommend raising your coverage limits to at least $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident. What’s more, increasing liability coverage limits often does little to raise your insurance rate.
You can use the Insurify car insurance comparison tool to see the costs of raising your coverage limits in real time. Go to your results page and select your coverage limit from the left margin. In states where minimum coverage is less than standard protection, you should have four options:
As you click through these options, your quotes will change accordingly. For many drivers, the cost difference between state minimums and asset protection is less than $20 a month.
First, if you don’t have bodily injury liability protection or a legal substitute, you’re breaking the law. All but a handful of states require anyone who drives on a public road to carry liability protection. And even in states that don’t require it, drivers without liability insurance must show a legal alternative.
Why do so many states have these requirements? Because your liability insurance protects others on the road. If you cause an accident that creates a medical emergency for someone else, they’re stuck paying those bills, losing time at work, and possibly dealing with expensive chronic health issues for a long time.
If you have liability coverage, your insurance provider will cover these expenses, up to coverage limits. If you don’t, the other driver can sue you for damages. You’ll need to provide your own lawyer and arrange to make court appearances. You could go bankrupt in the process. Not to mention, your car insurance will now be more costly, and you may even lose the right to drive.
Carrying liability protection is not only what’s legally required, it’s also in your best interest and the best interests of your community. Never drive without being legally insured.
An umbrella insurance policy offers people additional liability coverage on the road and elsewhere. It covers your liability costs in excess of coverage limits with other insurance policies. For example, if you cause injuries to others in a car accident and exceed your limits by $10,000, your umbrella policy will cover the difference without an additional deductible.
Best of all, umbrella insurance is inexpensive for most people. Savvy policyholders get an umbrella policy from their car insurance company. That often qualifies them for a bundling or multi-policy discount, which offsets the cost of the new policy. Sometimes, the discount is enough to cover the cost of umbrella coverage entirely.
We recommend setting your bodily injury liability limits to at least asset protection limits. That’s coverage of $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident. But you are allowed to set your coverage limit to anything that is legal and that your car insurance company is willing to write.
Bodily injury protection is one part of liability insurance. The other part is property damage protection. Together, these two coverage types make up a single car insurance liability policy, depending on the rules in your state.
In an auto insurance policy, if coverage limits are $250,000/$500,000, you’re covered for bodily injury liability up to $250,000 per person and $500,000 per accident. This is also known as premium protection and is generally the maximum amount people can purchase for personal auto insurance.
In states that don’t use the “no-fault” system, your passengers are covered by your bodily injury insurance. In no-fault states, your passengers will be covered by your personal injury protection (subject to its own limits) and their health insurance. Be sure to speak with your agent to understand exactly how your insurance covers your passengers when you are at fault.
The car insurance quotes displayed are based on an analysis of Insurify’s database of over 40 million quotes from 500 ZIP codes nationwide. To obtain representative rates, Insurify’s data science team performs frequent comprehensive analyses of the factors car insurance providers weigh to calculate rates including driver demographics, driving record, credit score, desired coverage level, and more.
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With the above insights and ranking methods, Insurify is able to offer car insurance shoppers insight into how various insurance providers compare to one another in terms of both cost and quality. Note, actual quotes will vary based on unique attributes including the policyholder’s driver history and their garaging address.