How Much Bodily Injury Coverage is Needed?

Bodily injury is a liability insurance coverage that is part of your car insurance policy.  Bodily injury liability insurance is the portion of the policy that provides coverage to pay for other people's injuries or death that are your responsibility.  It can also provide coverage and legal defense if a lawsuit is filed against you from someone involved in a car accident with you.

The general belief is that  bodily injury coverage is the part of the insurance policy that pays for doctors visits for injuries resulting from a car accident, but you'll actually want enough bodily injury coverage to cover you in case you are involved in a lawsuit, so that you don't have to worry about any of your personal assets being put at risk.  It is recommended by most experts that you should always purchase the maximum amount of car insurance that you can comfortably afford.

Determine How Much Bodily Injury Coverage Is Required

Before you decide how much bodily injury coverage you should carry- you should determine what your particular state requires as a minimum bodily injury coverage limit.  Regardless of what you think your personal needs are, the state's each set their own minimum limits for bodily injury coverage and you are not able to buy any coverage below that amount.

Bodily injury is expressed in a dual coverage figure, and looks like:  100/300.  The first number indicates how much (in thousands) will be paid per person, and the second number indicates how much will be paid per accident.  So someone who has bodily injury cover of 100/300 has up to $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident in coverage.

Don't Put Yourself At Risk

If you try to save a few dollars on your car insurance premium you are putting yourself at serious financial risk.  The financial risk you are taking by lowering your premium by a few dollars a month could cost you your house and personal items if a lawsuit is ever filed against you and you don't have adequate bodily injury coverage.  

For example, if you are driving a vehicle, or another driver covered by your policy is driving a vehicle, and you cause serious injury and damages that are beyond your limits- you are going to be held responsible for coming up with the extra money.  If you don't have the money to pay, you'll be forced to sell property, pull from your savings and other assets, and if that still isn't enough- your future earnings will be taken in order to make the payments.

You should aim to purchase bodily injury liability coverage that will account for your current assets and your future net worth to help minimize your financial risk in case you are involved in an accident that is deemed to be your responsibility.