Does Inexpensive Car Insurance Equal Low Liability limits?
June 27, 2009 by Joseph Welusz
Filed under Auto Insurance
Before you try to decide what the right amount of coverage should be. You first need to understand what Automobile Liability Insurance covers. There are always two factors that make up liability coverage. There is bodily injury and property damage liability.
Bodily Injury liability includes the injury that are suffered due to on automobile accidents.
1. Emergency aid at the scene
2. Doctor bills due to the accident
3. Compensation for loss of income
4. Death benefits
5. Legal counsel costs
Property damage liability makes the damage that is cause due to an automobile accident.
1. Property damage to houses as other buildings
2. Restauration cost for other immobile objects
3. Vehicle repair or replacement costs
So now the question is what limits of coverage do I need? Each state has there own minimum guidelines. Usually around $15,000/$30,000 $15,000 but that will vary by state. When you look at the coverage’s I just wrote down you might be thinking there are three numbers there not two I don’t understand. Bodily injury liability coverage comes in two forms either split limit coverage which is shown above or single limit coverage.
Split Limit coverage: Limits are split into two for bodily injury coverage and then there is a separate coverage for property damage. If you take the example from above $15,000/$30,000 coverage, the $15,000 represents the total amount of bodily injury coverage that will be paid out to any one person during an accident. The $30,000 represents the total amount of bodily injury coverage that will be paid out for the entire accident. If you had a single limit of coverage it would include a maximum to be paid out but no individual maximum and it could be divided however needed.
The number that always ends your liability coverage is your property damage limit in the above example it is represented by $15,000.
You have probably realized the disadvantage of carrying stat minimum limits 15,000/30,000/15,000. With the price of cars rising and the already high costs of property around the country it makes sense to have more than the 15,000 for property damage. With medical expenses at there highest ever it only makes sense to raise your bodily injury limits as well.
100,000/300,000/50,000 is the most common amount of liability coverage within today. The cost to the consumer to go from state minimums to 100,000/300,000/50,000 of even more coverage isn’t that much more expensive. It just makes sense to me to pay a little more now for more coverage. Rather then thousands more later. I was found at fault in an accident and caused, because I didn’t have coverage to pay for all the expenses I caused to to the accident.
