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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.
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
People also ask
How much bodily injury is full coverage?
Full coverage insurance can include $30,000 to $500,000 in bodily injury liability coverage per accident, depending on the state and insurer. Bodily injury liability insurance is a standard part of full coverage, in addition to property damage liability, collision, and comprehensive coverage. To be clear, full coverage is not a specific type of insurance but rather a blanket term referring to any policy that includes comprehensive and collision insurance in addition to state minimum coverage requirements.
The amount of bodily injury...
read full answerWhat is the difference between medical payments and bodily injury coverage in auto 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.
Medical Payments vs. Bodily Injury Auto Insurance Coverage
... read full answerWhat is the difference between bodily injury and personal injury in car insurance?
The difference between bodily injury (BI) and personal injury (PIP) coverage in car insurance is that PIP pays for the policyholder’s own medical bills, while BI covers others’ medical bills when the policyholder is at-fault. Bodily injury coverage is a form of liability insurance. It is required in almost every state, but only 13 states require personal injury protection. It’s also worth mentioning that bodily injury coverage does not have a deductible, while PIP generally does.
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