How does bodily injury liability work?

Question

You should have at least as much bodily injury liability insurance coverage as your state requires, and it’s good to purchase coverage limits that are equal to your assets. Maintaining enough bodily injury liability insurance to cover your net worth is recommended to prevent lawsuits.

Bodily injury liability coverage pays for other drivers’ and passengers’ injuries when the policyholder is at fault in an accident. Bodily injury liability can cover medical bills, funeral expenses, lost wages, legal fees, and other related costs.... read full answer

How Much Bodily Injury Liability You Need

Drivers everywhere except New Hampshire, Virginia, and remote parts of Alaska are required to carry at least their state’s minimum required amount of bodily injury liability coverage. And in every state, you are legally responsible for serious injuries resulting from car accidents that you cause.

In most states, if your bodily injury limits are not high enough to pay for all the medical bills from an accident, the not-at-fault driver and their passengers can sue you for any uncompensated expenses. Drivers with a high net worth are especially vulnerable targets for lawsuits if their bodily injury coverage does not pay for all of the other driver’s expenses.

Consequently, you should have enough bodily injury liability coverage to equal your assets, rather than just carrying your state’s minimum. After all, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners reports that the average bodily injury liability claim in 2016, the latest year with data, was $19,201 – more than some states require in coverage.

If you need more coverage than car insurance companies sell, you can always purchase an umbrella policy to keep your assets from being seized in the event of a lawsuit.

Bodily Injury Liability Requirements by State

Limit (per person)	States
$15,000	CA, LA, PA
$20,000	CT, HI, ID, MA, MI
$25,000	NY, IL, OH, GA, and 30 others
$30,000	MN, NC, TX, VA
$50,000	AK, ME
No limit	FL, NJ

Bodily Injury Liability Limits Example

The limits for bodily injury liability will usually be displayed as 15/30 or $15,000/$30,000, which is the minimum required for California. These numbers mean that, for any given accident, a driver's bodily injury liability insurance will cover:

$15,000 for injuries sustained by any one person

$30,000 for injuries sustained by all people involved in the accident

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Answer 1 · 2022-02-15 19:23:02

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McKayla Girardin, Car Insurance Writer

@mckayla_girardin • 02/15/22 This answer was first published on 02/15/22. For the most current information about a financial product, you should always check and confirm accuracy with the offering financial institution. Editorial and user-generated content is not provided, reviewed or endorsed by any company.

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Bodily injury liability works by covering other people’s medical expenses and lost wages if they are injured in an accident you cause. Bodily injury liability insurance will not pay for your own medical costs if you are at fault, but it can help pay your legal fees if you are sued as a result of the crash.

Bodily injury liability is a key part of liability insurance, along with property damage liability coverage. Most states require drivers to have at least $25,000 in bodily injury coverage per person and $50,000 per accident.

How Bodily Injury Liability Limits Work

Bodily injury liability insurance comes in either single-limit or split-limit policies.

Single-limit policies offer a set dollar amount for both property damage and bodily injuries per accident. How much goes toward bodily injuries is determined by the nature of the accident.

Split-limit policies have a specific maximum dollar amount for each injured person and for the entire accident. These types of policies are typically written as 25/50/20, for example, in which the first number is your per-person bodily injury coverage and the second is your per-accident bodily injury limit. The third number is how much your insurer will pay for property damage per accident.

Example of How Bodily Injury Liability Insurance Works

Here’s an example of what might happen if your insurance policy has a split-limit of 25/50/20 and you cause an accident on the highway injuring three other people:

Person 1’s medical expenses: $10,000
Person 2’s medical expenses: $26,000
Person 3’s medical expenses: $15,000
How much bodily injury liability would pay: All of Person 1’s and Person 3’s expenses. $25,000 of Person 2’s expenses (because your per-person limit is $25,000).
How much you would need to pay out-of-pocket: $1,000 of Person 2’s costs (the amount in excess of both your per-person and per-accident limits)

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

How does bodily injury liability work?

McKayla Girardin, Car Insurance Writer

How Bodily Injury Liability Limits Work

Example of How Bodily Injury Liability Insurance Works

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