What is the recommended bodily injury liability coverage in Alaska?

In Alaska, you need $50,000 in bodily injury coverage per person ($100,000 per accident) if you purchase car insurance. Bodily injury liability coverage pays for other people’s injuries after a car accident that you cause, and it can also cover your legal fees if you are sued after a crash. However, car insurance is not required in Alaska if you live in a remote area where vehicle registration is not mandatory.... read full answer

Even though Alaska doesn’t always require car insurance, it’s always a good idea to purchase it anyway. Car insurance is an important way to protect yourself financially, since it can keep you from paying out of pocket for expenses resulting from injuries and property damage that you cause.

Drivers in state who do purchase insurance also need $25,000 in property damage liability insurance. For more information, check out WalletHub’s breakdown of how much car insurance you need in Alaska.

If you don’t have bodily injury coverage in Alaska, you are at risk of being held personally responsible for other people’s medical expenses if you cause a car accident. In Alaska, you are required to have at least $50,000 in bodily injury liability insurance per person and $100,000 per accident.

Bodily injury coverage is one component of liability car insurance, along with property damage liability insurance. Bodily injury liability insurance generally pays for others’ medical expenses, up to your policy limits, after an accident you were at fault for. It can also cover others’ lost income or funeral costs.

Consequences If You Don’t Have Bodily Injury Coverage in Alaska

• You face the penalties for driving without insurance. The penalties for driving without insurance in Alaska can include things like hefty fines, license and registration suspension or revocation and mandatory SR-22 filing.
• You’ll have higher premiums later. In Alaska, even a single conviction for driving without insurance raises annual premiums.
• You could be sued. The people involved in the accident and their insurance companies can sue you for medical expenses if you were at fault.

Driving without your state’s minimum liability coverage is a serious offense, one that can have huge financial consequences. To avoid facing those consequences, make sure your insurance policy satisfies Alaska’s minimum coverage requirements.

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

No, personal injury protection (PIP) is not required in Alaska. PIP is not even available in Alaska. Instead of PIP insurance, Alaska insurance companies offer medical payments insurance (sometimes called MedPay), which helps with hospital bills resulting from a car accident.

MedPay is similar to PIP insurance in that both handle your medical bills even if you cause a car accident. But MedPay covers less than personal injury protection, with no provisions for lost wages or assistance with home tasks that you can’t manage due to injury.... read full answer

Personal injury protection is a type of car insurance used in no-fault states, since it covers medical payments regardless of who caused an accident. Alaska is an at-fault state, which means at least one driver is found to be “at fault” after a collision. Due in part to the differences in car insurance laws, the average cost of insurance in Alaska – $1,248 – is average compared to most PIP states and other non-PIP states.