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Car Insurance Learning Center  Learning Center  Auto Insurance Questions & Answers   Questions & Answers  Professional Answers   Auto Insurance Answers

How do I know how much Bodily Injury coverage I need?

Bodily injury (BI) liability insurance is coverage for other people's injuries or death for which you are responsible. BI coverage can also provide legal defense if another party in the accident files a lawsuit against you. In general, you will want enough bodily injury insurance to cover a judgment against you in a lawsuit, so that your personal assets are not put at risk. You should always buy the maximum amount of insurance that you can afford.

The first part of determining how much bodily injury liability insurance you need is finding out your state's minimum limits. You will need bodily injury limits of this amount and possibly more so that your house and personal items are not put in jeopardy if a lawsuit comes about due to a lawsuit.

The dual coverage limits refer to the maximum amounts that will be paid per person, per incident, respectively.

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Essential things to keep in mind when selecting your Bodily Injury limits:

If you select limits that are too low, you could be putting yourself at risk financially. For example, if either you or a driver covered by your policy cause a serious injury where damages exceed your limits, you will be held responsible for the amount above your limits. To make that payment, you could be forced to liquidate property, savings, and other assets, or your future earnings could be attached. By purchasing liability limits to account for both your current assets and future net worth, you can help protect yourself against this risk.

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Determining if you need bodily injury insurance coverage above your state's minimum limits, will depend upon your own personal situation. The insurance industry's recommended coverage amount is 100/300. This would give you coverage of $100,000 per person for a total of $300,000 per incident.

For more information on car insurance coverages check out our Learning center and articles such as Tips on How to Save When Buying Car Insurance.

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Visitor Comments
Every time I read an article like this, I feel it tells only half the story. Sure, all of us except idiots can calculate how much insurance we are covered by if we buy that same amount of insurance. What we a really need to know is *how likely is it* that an accident which results in $X00,000 damage will occur for a driver of my socioeconomic class? To answer this question, we need statistics on court cases and accidents, and it has to be graphed for us in a clear manner. Anybody can buy $20 million dollars worth of BI insurance but what are the odds he will get caught owing that much? What about just $200,000? Or $50,000? Simply covering your assets doesn't make a lot of sense if you cause $500,000 worth of damage and medical bills to another party.
Comment added: 05:31 PM Jan-19
I rated it very high because we all need car insurance,but we do not always understand what our policy describes. Thanks very much.
Comment added: 03:53 PM Jan-31
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This car insurance answer was last updated 6:26 PM Jul-05.
This Compare Quotes question was asked 07:14 PM July-4-2006.
Betty requested this car insurance help from CarInsurance.com experts.
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