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Two of the least thought about parts of insurance are the liability coverages which include bodily injury and property damage. When looking at each, one of the most import things to assess before deciding on the amount of coverage are your assets. Insurance is obtained primarily to protect you in the event something happens which could lead to you being responsible for monetary damages or you being involved in an accident with an uninsured person that effects your livelihood. As a result, you want to look at the amount of assets that you have and how well much you want to protect yourself.
One part of auto insurance liability insurance is sold as “BI” or Bodily Injury. Bodily injury is sold in two different types of limit systems, CSL (combined single limit) or the more common split liability limit. They are usually listed on a policy declaration page as 500/500 for a CSL or 15/30 for split limit. Each protects you in a different way, the split limit covers on two different levels, the 1st number is the amount of coverage limit per person and the 2nd number is the total coverage limit. For example if you have a 15/30 policy, the insurance company will cover damages up to $15,000 per person with a per accident maximum of $30,000. This is similar to a CSL policy except the insurance company will cover damages up to the total BI liability coverage amount.
The other component of liability is property damage, listed on an auto policy as “PD”. This coverage will pay for property damage claims that occur to a 3rd party, including damages that you cause to non-owned property such as vehicles, fire hydrants, power poles, or residences to name a few. If you reside in a state where the property damage minimum limits are $10,000, your insurance will cover damages you cause up to $10,000. In the event that you are involved in an incident where the damages exceed that amount, you may personally be responsible for the excess if the insurance company is not able to obtain a release of damages from the other party.
Hopefully your bodily injury coverage will never have to be used, in the event that they do come into play you want to make sure that the limits you have purchased will adequately protect you. Most people in their life will never have a catastrophic accident, but if it does happen, the amount that you can potentially be liable for can easily exceed $75-100,000. In the event that were to occur, you will want higher limits of coverage. If you are found liable, you can be sued for your assets and quite possibly your future wages. As a result, why not obtain higher coverage limits that protect you and your future? For most people, coverage of at least 100/300/100 is adequate. What these numbers mean is that you are purchasing coverage of $100,000 bodily injury liability limits per person with a maximum of $300,000 per claim while the last $100,000 is the property coverage limit. In my past experience, most of the claims that I ran across did not come close to the figures, but for the few that did, the policy holders were quite happy that they had obtained the coverage because it protected them completely. These figures should cover most, but not all circumstances or people.
The above information is a general overview of liability and property damage limits and does not cover everyone. For more complete information, please refer to our local, licensed insurance agent or your particular insurer.
Darryl Lee
One part of auto insurance liability insurance is sold as “BI” or Bodily Injury. Bodily injury is sold in two different types of limit systems, CSL (combined single limit) or the more common split liability limit. They are usually listed on a policy declaration page as 500/500 for a CSL or 15/30 for split limit. Each protects you in a different way, the split limit covers on two different levels, the 1st number is the amount of coverage limit per person and the 2nd number is the total coverage limit. For example if you have a 15/30 policy, the insurance company will cover damages up to $15,000 per person with a per accident maximum of $30,000. This is similar to a CSL policy except the insurance company will cover damages up to the total BI liability coverage amount.
The other component of liability is property damage, listed on an auto policy as “PD”. This coverage will pay for property damage claims that occur to a 3rd party, including damages that you cause to non-owned property such as vehicles, fire hydrants, power poles, or residences to name a few. If you reside in a state where the property damage minimum limits are $10,000, your insurance will cover damages you cause up to $10,000. In the event that you are involved in an incident where the damages exceed that amount, you may personally be responsible for the excess if the insurance company is not able to obtain a release of damages from the other party.
Hopefully your bodily injury coverage will never have to be used, in the event that they do come into play you want to make sure that the limits you have purchased will adequately protect you. Most people in their life will never have a catastrophic accident, but if it does happen, the amount that you can potentially be liable for can easily exceed $75-100,000. In the event that were to occur, you will want higher limits of coverage. If you are found liable, you can be sued for your assets and quite possibly your future wages. As a result, why not obtain higher coverage limits that protect you and your future? For most people, coverage of at least 100/300/100 is adequate. What these numbers mean is that you are purchasing coverage of $100,000 bodily injury liability limits per person with a maximum of $300,000 per claim while the last $100,000 is the property coverage limit. In my past experience, most of the claims that I ran across did not come close to the figures, but for the few that did, the policy holders were quite happy that they had obtained the coverage because it protected them completely. These figures should cover most, but not all circumstances or people.
The above information is a general overview of liability and property damage limits and does not cover everyone. For more complete information, please refer to our local, licensed insurance agent or your particular insurer.
Darryl Lee