Bodily Injury Car Insurance Coverage: How Does It Work?
If you cause a car accident in which someone else is injured, your bodily injury liability (BI or BIL) insurance will cover the costs of their injuries.
It is one of two types of liability car insurance coverage that pays for any harm you cause to other drivers.
Almost every state has a minimum requirement for bodily injury coverage, such as $25,000 per person, to demonstrate your financial responsibility on the road. Consumers, on the other hand, have the option of purchasing coverage in excess of the legal minimum.
What does bodily injury coverage pay for?
If you are at fault in an accident, bodily injury liability insurance will pay for the injuries you cause to another driver. It covers medical bills, lost wages, and even funeral expenses if applicable.
The medical costs of injuries sustained in the accident are not covered by bodily injury. It is referred to as "third-party" insurance because it only covers damage to other drivers and passengers (you are the "first party").
What is covered under bodily injury coverage
Third-party expenses that can be filed against your bodily injury liability policy include:
- Medical bills: For the other party's hospitalization, follow-up care, and other medical or health care services.
- Lost wages: If the harmed party was seriously injured and unable to work, your bodily injury liability coverage compensates them for their lost earnings. This amount is determined by the length of time they are unable to work as a result of the injury, and it is subject to various limits depending on where you live.
- Legal fees: This is the only item in which bodily injury pays for your expenses rather than the third party's. If you are sued by the other party, your insurer will usually provide legal defense for you, which is covered by your own bodily injury coverage.
- Funeral costs: Covers funeral and burial expenses if a person is killed in a car accident.
How to understand bodily injury liability limits
Your bodily injury coverage is specified in a three-number format, such as "25/50/25." The first two numbers in the three-number format are the bodily injury coverage limits, and the third is for property damage, which is a separate type of coverage.
The first number represents the amount of coverage for a single person in the accident, while the second number represents the total amount of coverage in the accident. So, if you are quoted a 25/50 limit for bodily injury, it means that the insurance policy will cover up to $25,000 per person injured in an accident and a total of $50,000 in claims for a single accident.
To demonstrate how bodily injury liability works, we'll look at two examples.
- You were found to be at fault in an accident that injured two people in the other vehicle. Person A had $30,000 in medical expenses, while Person B had $10,000 in medical expenses. While the total medical bills are less than the $50,000 per accident limit, your auto insurance policy will only pay Person A $25,000 and Person B $10,000. Because Person A's expenses exceeded the per-person limit, you are liable for the $5,000 unpaid claim.
- You were at fault for an accident that resulted in the injuries of two people. Both claimed $25,000 in medical expenses. Because both individual claims are less than $25,000 and the total claim is less than or equal to $50,000, the insurance policy will cover these costs.
Another — and less common — type of limit that customers can purchase is a combined single limit (CSL). In contrast to the split limit, CSL has a single limit that applies to the entire accident and is not limited by the number of injured people. Because of the flexibility of CSL, this type of limit is more expensive, and not every car insurance company offers it.
Minimum bodily injury liability requirements by state
Each state has a minimum amount of coverage that you must have as part of your auto insurance policy. The most common minimum BIL limit is $25,000 per person, but your state's minimum may be different. This coverage is not even required in Florida.
The following table shows the state minimums for bodily injury liability:
State | Min. Coverage | State | Min. Coverage |
Alabama | $25,000/$50,000 | Montana | $25,000/$50,000 |
Alaska | $50,000/$100,000 | Nebraska | $25,000/$50,000 |
Arizona | $15,000/$30,000 | Nevada | $25,000/$50,000 |
Arkansas | $25,000/$50,000 | New Hampshire | $25,000/$50,000 |
California | $15,000/$30,000 | New Jersey | $15,000/$30,000 |
Colorado | $25,000/$50,000 | New Mexico | $25,000/$50,000 |
Connecticut | $25,000/$50,000 | New York | $25,000/$50,000 |
Delaware | $25,000/$50,000 | North Carolina | $30,000/$60,000 |
District of Columbia | $25,000/$50,000 | North Dakota | $25,000/$50,000 |
Florida | None | Ohio | $25,000/$50,000 |
Georgia | $25,000/$50,000 | Oklahoma | $25,000/$50,000 |
Hawaii | $20,000/$40,000 | Oregon | $25,000/$50,000 |
Idaho | $25,000/$50,000 | Pennsylvania | $15,000/$30,000 |
Illinois | $25,000/$50,000 | Rhode Island | $25,000/$50,000 |
Indiana | $25,000/$50,000 | South Carolina | $25,000/$50,000 |
Iowa | $20,000/$40,000 | South Dakota | $25,000/$50,000 |
Kansas | $25,000/$50,000 | Tennessee | $25,000/$50,000 |
Kentucky | $25,000/$50,000 | Texas | $30,000/$60,000 |
Louisiana | $15,000/$30,000 | Utah | $25,000/$65,000 |
Maine | $50,000/$100,000 | Vermont | $25,000/$50,000 |
Maryland | $30,000/$60,000 | Virginia | $25,000/$50,000 |
Massachusetts | $20,000/$40,000 | Washington | $25,000/$50,000 |
Michigan | $20,000/$40,000 | West Virginia | $25,000/$50,000 |
Minnesota | $30,000/$60,000 | Wisconsin | $25,000/$50,000 |
Mississippi | $25,000/$50,000 | Wyoming | $25,000/$50,000 |
Missouri | $25,000/$50,000 |
How much bodily injury liability coverage should you have?
You should get limits that correspond to the value of your assets, or the highest limits you can afford. That's because if your car insurance isn't enough to cover the damage you cause, the other driver may sue you for the difference. If the judges rule in their favor, your assets will have to be liquidated in order to pay the court's damages.
If you have few assets — that is, you don't have a lot of money stashed away in bank accounts, retirement accounts, or other funds — the other party is likely to be willing to settle a claim for the amount paid out by the insurance company. When there are fewer assets to spare, the risk of a lawsuit is reduced.
However, if you are wealthy or have savings or investments, your financial risk and exposure in the event of an accident increases. When you choose low limits, you expose more of your assets when an accident results in hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages.
Because wealthier people may be more likely to be sued, we recommend higher coverage limits for those with a higher net worth, as a higher policy limit will cover more of the claims made against your bodily injury protection. The next step is to figure out how to get the cheapest car insurance for the coverage you require.
How much does bodily injury liability car insurance cost?
The more coverage you purchase, the less expensive bodily injury liability insurance becomes. We discovered that a state minimum coverage policy in Pennsylvania with bodily injury coverage of $15,000 per person/$30,000 per accident costs $532 on average. However, purchasing more than six times the amount of bodily injury coverage ($100,000/$200,000) increased our sample driver's rates by only 18%, to $627 per year.
BI coverage limit | Annual cost | Coverage per premium dollar spent |
$15,000/$30,000 (state minimum) | $532 | $56 |
$20,000/$40,000 | $552 | $72 |
$25,000/$50,000 | $560 | $89 |
$30,000/$60,000 | $585 | $103 |
$50,000/$100,000 | $589 | $170 |
$100,000/$200,000 | $627 | $319 |
All quotes are for liability-only policies in Pennsylvania with $5,000 of property damage liability coverage.
How to file a bodily injury liability claim
BI claims are classified as "third-party claims," which means you are filing a claim against the insurance company of the at-fault driver.
You will be required to document and keep a record of the accident in order to ensure that a reasonable amount of your expenses are paid for. You should be prepared to provide the following information before filing a claim:
- A detailed account of what occurred
- Photographs of the accident scene and any injuries you sustained
- Medical examination records and any bills from doctors and health care providers
- Receipts for all associated expenses
- Proof of lost wages: If your injuries caused you to miss work and potential income, you must obtain documentation from your employer.
After making a claim:
- You should receive a response within a reasonable time frame, as determined by your state and policy, or receive an explanation for any delay.
- Prepare to talk about the incident. A liability claim examiner or adjuster may seek clarification in order to assess the extent of the injuries sustained as well as the cost of the claim.
- Your right to compensation for your claim may also be subject to a time limit: You may be required by state law to accept a settlement within a certain time frame. If you do not agree with the settlement, you can either accept it or file a lawsuit.
- Only sign the release form if you are ready: As part of the process, the insurance company will request that you waive all future rights to sue the individual or company for additional payments after the settlement. You should factor in future medical bills as well as any other expenses that may arise. Request that an attorney review the settlement and release.
How much is the average bodily liability claim worth?
In comparison to property damage liability claims, which have averaged around $3,600 per claim over the last decade, bodily injury claims are significantly higher.
According to Insurance Services Office Inc., the average bodily injury claim in 2019 was $18,417. (ISO). However, bodily injury claims are relatively uncommon, with only 1.1 percent of policies experiencing a claim that year. With a few exceptions, such as Florida, most bodily injury claims, based on this data, fall within the minimum coverage limits required by the states.
However, this should not be used as the sole source of information when determining your limit. These figures do not represent a wide range of claim amounts, ranging from the fortunately low to the catastrophically high.
Year | Average bodily injury claim amount |
2010 | $14,406 |
2011 | $14,848 |
2012 | $14,690 |
2013 | $15,441 |
2014 | $15,384 |
2015 | $16,046 |
2016 | $16,149 |
2017 | $16,075 |
2018 | $17,164 |
2019 | $18,417 |
Frequently asked questions
What is bodily injury liability coverage?
Bodily injury coverage compensates others for financial losses caused by a car accident in which you are at fault. Medical bills, lost wages, and legal fees could all be included.
Do I need bodily injury liability coverage?
Yes, in most cases. Except for Florida, every state requires BI liability coverage in order to register a vehicle.
How much bodily injury coverage should I buy?
You will undoubtedly need to purchase at least enough to meet your state's minimum requirement, but we recommend drivers purchase more based on their net worth and frequency of driving, as a few extra dollars per year could save you tens of thousands if you are ever involved in an at-fault crash.
Is bodily injury coverage expensive?
The cost of BI liability coverage is determined by the amount purchased as well as other factors such as your driving history. The greater the amount of coverage purchased, the better the deal. For example, while the average cost of a legal minimum insurance policy in Pennsylvania is $532 per year, we discovered that doubling your BI coverage only increases your premium by about 10%.
Sources
The insurance rate data used in LowCostInsurance analysis came from Quadrant Information Services. These rates were obtained publicly from insurer filings and should only be used for comparison purposes, as your quotes may differ.