Does bodily injury liability cover your passengers?

Bodily injury liability insurance covers other drivers’ medical expenses if they are injured in a car accident that you cause. Bodily injury liability insurance can pay for things like another driver’s emergency care, hospital fees, and even lost wages after an accident you’re at fault for.

Although bodily injury liability won’t cover your own injuries or associated costs, it can cover your legal fees if you are sued because of an at-fault accident. However, in ... read full answerno-fault states, there may be limits to when drivers are able to sue after an accident.

What Bodily Injury Liability Covers

• Emergency care, like ambulance costs and emergency room fees
• Hospital fees, such as surgery expenses or doctor visits
• Pain and suffering, including emotional distress
• Loss of income
• Childcare and homecare
• Equipment costs associated with the injuries, like crutches or wheelchairs
• Funeral expenses
• The policyholder’s legal fees

What Bodily Injury Liability Does Not Cover

• The policyholder’s injuries and medical expenses
• Damage to property, such as vehicles or stationary objects
• The policyholder’s lost wages, home aid, or other peripheral costs

Bodily injury liability insurance is required in almost every state. Regardless of how much coverage your state requires, you should always purchase as much as you can comfortably afford in order to protect both your own finances and other drivers on the road.

To learn more, check out WalletHub’s guide to bodily injury liability insurance.

In auto insurance, the difference between medical payments and bodily injury coverage is that medical payments (MedPay) insurance covers the policyholder, while bodily injury coverage applies to a third-party. Liability insurance only ever pays for damage caused to others, but MedPay applies regardless of fault. In addition, bodily injury coverage is required in almost every state, while medical payments insurance is only required in Maine and New Hampshire.... read full answer

Medical Payments vs. Bodily Injury Auto Insurance Coverage

The bottom line is that bodily injury liability and medical payments auto insurance coverage pay for similar things but in different situations. You can only file a bodily injury claim with an at-fault driver's liability insurance. But if you cause the accident yourself, you need to file a claim with your own medical payments insurance, or with your personal injury protection (PIP) coverage if you don’t have MedPay.

Furthermore, medical payments insurance is often used as supplementary coverage to a health insurance plan, since MedPay can help you avoid expensive deductibles, copays, and coinsurance costs. MedPay can also be used if the policyholder is walking or biking instead of driving when a collision occurs.

If you’re a passenger in a car accident, your medical expenses will usually be covered by your driver’s insurance or the other driver’s policy, depending on fault. You can also use your personal car insurance policy to cover your injuries if you have certain types of coverage, like personal injury protection... read full answer. Additionally, you may be used as a witness during the insurance adjuster’s investigation in order to help them determine fault.

Coverage That Applies When You’re A Passenger in a Car Accident

Personal injury protection and medical payments coverage can be used regardless of who caused the accident, though you and your driver may not have either if they’re not required in your state. Additionally, if your driver is at-fault, their bodily injury liability insurance will only cover you if you are not a member of the same household.

If you need to file a claim after being a passenger in an accident, you should get both drivers’ insurance information as soon as you can. If you want to learn more, check out WalletHub’s guide to insurance for passengers in a car accident.