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You will never know how much insurance coverage you will need until you need it, so it’s better to be safe than sorry. First let’s take a look at what Auto Insurance Liability covers. There are two parts to your liability coverage the first is bodily injury liability and the second is property damage liability.

Bodily Injury liability includes the injury that are suffered due to on automobile accidents.

1. First Aid at the Accident

2. Doctor bills due to the accident

3. Compensation for loss of income

4. Death benefits

5. Lawyer Fees

Property Damage Liability covers the damage that is sustained in an accident:

1. Homes, building, etc that receive structural damage

2. Restauration cost for other immobile objects

3. Automobile damage or total loss compensation

So, you are probably thinking to yourself what coverage limits should I have? Minimum liability guidelines are set by each individual state, they are usually 15,000/30,000/15,000 worth of coverage. The reason there is 3 numbers instead of two is because body injury liability is usually set in split limits but you could request a single limit of 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.

I would suggest never having coverage less than $100,000/$300,000 for bodily injury and $50,000 property damage with even higher coverage recommended. The cost to go from $15,000/$30,000 to $100,000/$300,000 or even higher shouldn’t be more than a couple of hundred dollars a year at most. I would rather spend a couple hundred dollars more per year than be stuck owing thousand due to medical bills for a person that I injured in an accident. When talking with your insurance agent always get quotes with higher liability limits so you can compare the different prices between coverage. If you need to off set cost a little and you are getting full coverage consider having a higher collision deductible, but insurance cost savings is another topic to be written about later.