Medical Payments (Med Pay - MEDPM) coverage covers medical expenses to you and your passengers injured in an accident. There may also be coverage if as a pedestrian a vehicle injures you.

With Med Pay it does NOT matter who is at fault. Medical payments may also cover policyholders and their family members when they are injured while riding in someone else's car or when they are hit by a car while on foot or bicycling. Coverage of course is limited to the terms and conditions contained in your specific auto insurance policy.

Bodily injury on the other hand is not coverage for you if you are injured in an accident. Bodily injury liability (BI or BIL) is for those that you may cause injuries to when you are at fault in an accident. BI is mandatory in most states.

Bodily injury covers other people's bodily injuries or death for which you are responsible. It also provides for a legal defense if another party in the accident files a lawsuit against you. Claims for bodily injury may be for such things as medical bills, loss of income or pain and suffering. In the event of a serious accident, you want enough insurance to cover a judgment against you in a lawsuit, without jeopardizing your personal assets.

Bodily injury liability covers injury to people, not your vehicle. Therefore, it's a good idea (and usually a company requirement) to have the same level of coverage for all of your cars. Bodily Injury Liability does NOT cover you or other people on your policy. As with Medical Payment, Bodily coverage is limited to the terms and conditions contained in the policy.

So bodily injury liability and medical payment are not the same type of coverage, each is in place to cover different things. BI is to cover those that you may cause injury to when at fault in an accident while Medical Payments coverage is there to cover you and your passengers when you are injured, no matter who was at fault in the accident.

If you and your regular passengers already have health insurance that covers similar expenses, medical payments coverage may be unnecessary. Check your health insurance policy for details since some exclude coverage for injuries received in a car accident.

Our car insurance calculator may help you decide what types of coverages you need as part of your auto insurance policy.