You will never know how much insurance coverage you will need until you need it, so it's better to be safe than sorry. First let's take a look at what Auto Insurance Liability covers. There are two parts to your liability coverage the first is bodily injury liability and the second is property damage liability.
Bodily injury liability covers injuries do to a car accident.
1. Emergency aid at the scene
2. Doctor bills due to the accident
3. Restitution for lost salary
4. Final expenses
5. Legal counsel costs
Property damage liability makes the damage that is cause due to an automobile accident.
1. Homes, building, etc that receive structural damage
2. Money to fix or replace other non-moving objects
3. Car restoration or replacement expenses
So, you are probably thinking to yourself what coverage limits should I have? Minimum liability guidelines are set by each individual state, they are usually 15,000/30,000/15,000 worth of coverage. The reason there is 3 numbers instead of two is because body injury liability is usually set in split limits but you could request a single limit of coverage.
Single vs split limit: In example above of 15,000/30,000/15,000 in coverage, this first 15,000 would cover individual injuries to others obtained from the accident you caused up to 15,000 per person. The 30,000 represents the maximum pay out for injuries caused to the while accident. If you had a single limit of bodily injury coverage it would be equal to 30,000 for the extra accident broken up as needed.
Property Damage coverage is always the last number which is represented by $15,000 in the example above.
What is right amount of liability coverage? The most common amount of coverage is a split limit of $100,000/$300,000 bodily injury with a property damage coverage equal to $50,000. People that take out lower limit are really exposing themselves to financial disaster if they can't afford to pay the difference when an accident occurs. For example, say you have $15,000/$30,000 bodily injury coverage and $15,000 property damage coverage. You get into an accident that is your fault with two vehicles a five year Honda Accord and two year old Chrysler 300. There are three people in the Honda and one person in the Chrysler. All have minor injury but are brought to the hospital and the person driving the Chrysler stays overnight for observation. Their bills will run over your $30,000 maximum for Bodily injury and the person driving the Chrysler will have individual hospital cost of more than $15,000. What does that mean? Once your coverage is used up you will be responsible for the rest. With hospital cost as expensive as they are that could mean a very costly bill to you. This doesn't even take into account the amount of property damage that needs to be paid out. Since you hit two cars the damage for both comes out at $19,000. That is another $4,000 out of your pocket. The worst part of the whole thing was you thought you had full coverage and that it didn't matter what happened. Full coverage only means that you have liability coverage, comprehensive and collision coverage but your limits on liability are the most important. Make sure they are set properly.
100,000/300,000/50,000 is the most common amount of liability coverage within today. The cost to the consumer to go from state minimums to 100,000/300,000/50,000 of even more coverage isn't that much more expensive. It just makes sense to me to pay a little more now for more coverage. Rather then thousands more later. I was found at fault in an accident and caused, because I didn't have coverage to pay for all the expenses I caused to to the accident.
Bodily injury liability covers injuries do to a car accident.
1. Emergency aid at the scene
2. Doctor bills due to the accident
3. Restitution for lost salary
4. Final expenses
5. Legal counsel costs
Property damage liability makes the damage that is cause due to an automobile accident.
1. Homes, building, etc that receive structural damage
2. Money to fix or replace other non-moving objects
3. Car restoration or replacement expenses
So, you are probably thinking to yourself what coverage limits should I have? Minimum liability guidelines are set by each individual state, they are usually 15,000/30,000/15,000 worth of coverage. The reason there is 3 numbers instead of two is because body injury liability is usually set in split limits but you could request a single limit of coverage.
Single vs split limit: In example above of 15,000/30,000/15,000 in coverage, this first 15,000 would cover individual injuries to others obtained from the accident you caused up to 15,000 per person. The 30,000 represents the maximum pay out for injuries caused to the while accident. If you had a single limit of bodily injury coverage it would be equal to 30,000 for the extra accident broken up as needed.
Property Damage coverage is always the last number which is represented by $15,000 in the example above.
What is right amount of liability coverage? The most common amount of coverage is a split limit of $100,000/$300,000 bodily injury with a property damage coverage equal to $50,000. People that take out lower limit are really exposing themselves to financial disaster if they can't afford to pay the difference when an accident occurs. For example, say you have $15,000/$30,000 bodily injury coverage and $15,000 property damage coverage. You get into an accident that is your fault with two vehicles a five year Honda Accord and two year old Chrysler 300. There are three people in the Honda and one person in the Chrysler. All have minor injury but are brought to the hospital and the person driving the Chrysler stays overnight for observation. Their bills will run over your $30,000 maximum for Bodily injury and the person driving the Chrysler will have individual hospital cost of more than $15,000. What does that mean? Once your coverage is used up you will be responsible for the rest. With hospital cost as expensive as they are that could mean a very costly bill to you. This doesn't even take into account the amount of property damage that needs to be paid out. Since you hit two cars the damage for both comes out at $19,000. That is another $4,000 out of your pocket. The worst part of the whole thing was you thought you had full coverage and that it didn't matter what happened. Full coverage only means that you have liability coverage, comprehensive and collision coverage but your limits on liability are the most important. Make sure they are set properly.
100,000/300,000/50,000 is the most common amount of liability coverage within today. The cost to the consumer to go from state minimums to 100,000/300,000/50,000 of even more coverage isn't that much more expensive. It just makes sense to me to pay a little more now for more coverage. Rather then thousands more later. I was found at fault in an accident and caused, because I didn't have coverage to pay for all the expenses I caused to to the accident.
About the Author:
The preceding article was written by licensed insurance professional Joseph Welusz who provides Free Insurance Quotes. He writes interesting articles on various insurance topics for QuoteMatcher.com. Prior to getting Insurance Quotes on the web check Joe's site for free money saving insurance tips.
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