What Does Auto Liability Insurance Cover?
When you cause a car accident, you’re obligated to pay for the damages you caused to others and to their property. Liability insurance is there to help pay for that obligation.
Up to the limits you purchased, the Bodily Injury part pays their medical bills, lost wages, and other out of pocket expenses associated with the injury, plus compensation for their pain.
The Property Damage Liability takes care of any repair or replacement costs for their vehicles and property damaged in the accident - up to the limits you purchased.
It’s important to understand that Liability insurance is just to help protect you from the claims of others and it doesn’t include coverage for any injuries or property damage you sustain.
Bodily Injury Liability Coverage
While Bodily Injury Liability coverage is medical expense coverage, it covers more than just medical costs. It can also cover pain and suffering, lost wages, funeral costs, etc. for the person who makes a claim against you and court costs, legal fees, etc. if that person sues you. But much of that coverage is subject to the limits you select. So be sure you purchase sufficient coverage limits.
Bodily Injury Liability Coverage Limits
You'll often see Bodily Injury coverage limits listed as two numbers, like $25,000/$50,000. The first number is the amount your insurance company will pay per injured person, and the second is the total amount they’ll pay for all bodily injury claims made against you for any one accident. Any amount above those limits, you would be responsible for paying out of your own pocket.
Property Damage Liability Coverage
Property Damage Liability coverage will most likely pay to repair or replace another driver's vehicle, but it can also be used to pay for repair of other property damage from an accident, like a fence.
Property Damage Liability Coverage Limits
You’ll see the coverage limit listed as a single number, like $25,000, which indicates the limit of the coverage you purchased per incident.
Say's Liability Coverage Limits
At Say, we combined the two coverage limits into three numbers so it looks like $25,000/$50,000/$25,000, which means BI per person, BI per occurrence, and PD per occurrence.