Bodily injury liability - How to cover such risks

by Guest » Wed Jan 28, 2009 03:35 am

When you are involved in an accident and are at fault, you have a responsibility towards those you hurt physically. A bodily injury liability provides coverage in such a case.

What does bodily injury liability cover?

Bodily injury liability insurance provides coverage at times when you cause bodily injury to a third party as a result of an accident that is your fault. It provides medical costs for any physical injury that is suffered by passengers, both in your car and also in the other car in the accident. Not only this, it also covers the cost of legal proceedings (if any) that may be required when involved in an accident.

Bodily injury liability insurance pays for your legal obligations when you are at fault in an accident. These include

Expenditure in hospital and medical bills
Funeral cost in case of death
Wages lost
Pain and suffering
Rehabilitation
Long term care in the nursing home
Other related damages

Why do you need bodily injury liability?

However careful a driver you may be you still have the chance of getting involved in an accident. If the accident is your fault, you may be sued for damages and the other party may also claim bodily injury. There could be legal proceedings too. All of these are taken care of by a bodily injury liability. Bodily injury liability provides coverage regardless of who is at fault.

However, not everyone may think they need bodily injury liability. But, there are certain states where a state minimum coverage is absolutely required. Again, if you are sued, the legal fees can cost you a fortune unless you have already saved a fortune that you can afford to spend. Even if an accident isn’t your fault, you may still be sued.

How much does a bodily injury liability cost?

The cost for bodily injury liability varies from one state to the other depending on the auto insurance state laws. There are a few factors that play a big role in determining the price of such insurance. These include:

Your age
Your driving record
The carrier you purchase insurance from
The kind of car that you drive

Carriers can also put a cap to the amount they pay per person or per accident. Each policy may have its own liability limit. You may purchase a state minimum liability, but that may not be enough for you if involved in an accident. When purchasing bodily injury liability, you must consider buying a policy that has higher limits than what your state requires you to have.

What are limits in bodily injury?

Limits in bodily injury helps determine the amount of money the insurance company will pay you if you make a claim. This is the amount of money your insurer will pay you per person or per accident.

You can opt from amongst the 2 types of limits:

Single combined limit (CSL): In this case a total fixed amount is paid after adding up cost of treating all injuries and property damage that was caused by one particular accident.
Split limit: This is the maximum amount of money paid per person and the maximum amount paid per accident. As the name suggests this limit is set in two numbers.

What are the restrictions in bodily injury liability insurance?

Bodily injury has a few restrictions as mentioned below:

If you own multiple vehicles and one of them has bodily injury liability, then the rest of your vehicles need to have bodily injury liability too.
All the vehicles you own must have the same amount of bodily injury coverage on a single policy.
There are state laws that tell you how much bodily injury coverage your state requires you to have. This is the state minimum requirement.
There may be limits in a policy depending on the radius of operation.
Extra trailers may be required to give a flat fee for bodily injury.
Bodily injury policy does not protect you in case the act (accident) has been proved to be intentional.

Hi,
Suppose I'm driving a car and have an adult passenger with me who's not my relative. I cause an accident and the passenger gets injured. Would he be entitled to get payment from my Liability? I'm insured with Geico, looked at the papers and nowhere do they say that the injured person must not be in the vehicle I'm driving for them to be covered under liability.
Thanks.

Total Comments: 27

Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 11:16 pm Post Subject:

do insurance companies work the same way in these cases, or are there any big differences?

Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 01:30 am Post Subject: passanger injury claim

had car accidenet my 2 children was with me the accident was called my falt just had liability insurance will my children be entiled to a settlement for injury and pain one had a sprined wrist pulled back musscles and mulitple brusies, the other had strained elbow, pulled muscles in back and mutiple brusies

Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 11:25 am Post Subject:

linsam
It depends on your state law(s) regardling collusion, check with your carrier.

Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2010 03:03 pm Post Subject: Bodily Injury Liability

Suppose I have the Bodily Injury Liability coverage and I rear-end a separate accident, due to weather conditions. I understand I am at-fault, however, I was told I would have a claim against the car I rear-ended because they did not have on flashers/any indication that there was an accident, nor did they move the vehicles off to the shoulder of the road.

Is this true?

(Info: I own the vehicle, age: over 24, myself-driver & one passenger, state of Florida)

Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2010 09:48 pm Post Subject:

I was told I would have a claim against the car I rear-ended because they did not have on flashers/any indication that there was an accident, nor did they move the vehicles off to the shoulder of the road.

yeah, who told you this? I'd be surprised if that is the case, never seen that happen in 23 years...The rules of the road say you will be driving at a speed that allows you to stop short of any abstruction. Now if you came over a blind hill or something, different story, maybe some comp neg...but doubtful...

Is this true?

Doubt it would have to be special circumstances...what kind of accident was the other one? how far ahead could you see it? what was the speed limit? was the person you rearended at fault for the prior accident? how much time from the first accident until you rearended this vehicle? were the police on scene?

(Info: I own the vehicle, age: over 24, myself-driver & one passenger, state of

Your BI coverage will handle your passenger assuming you are determined to be at fault/negligent. As well as any injurys you may have caused the people you hit.

Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 04:18 pm Post Subject:

Have to agree with Lori on this. Whoever told you that you are not at-fault for a rear-ender is probably not an insurance claims adjuster or agent.

We hear all the time on the news, where reporters often speak with "authority", that the accident was "caused by the rain". Sounds good, doesn't it? It's 100% wrong!. No policy describes "rain" as a covered peril, because it is not. Rain is a HAZARD -- something that increases the likelihood or severity of a loss.

People drive in inclement weather all the time and never have an accident. That's why the motor vehicle codes in most states have a section titled "unsafe speed". You can be going the posted speed limit, but according to the conditions, 5 mph might be the "safe" speed, and you can be given a citation for speeding at 10 mph in a 25 mph zone.

And as far as weather is concerned, here's another way to understand that some weather conditions are not insurable events: There's no such thing as "bad weather" . . . only inappropriate clothing.

Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 10:11 pm Post Subject: Liability only policy

If the insured has a liability only policy and their passenger which is their son gets injured, will the bodily injury portion of the policy cover the medical bills etc., for the passenger?

Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 04:49 am Post Subject:

Who caused the accident?

Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2010 06:32 pm Post Subject: accident

A friend of mine was in an accident 24 yrs ago, he was only 15, he was badly injured, with burns, a broken femur, and needed plastic surgery on his face which is still scarred. He never received any compensation for the pain and suffering. Would he still be able to be compensated?

Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2010 05:01 am Post Subject:

A friend of mine was in an accident 24 yrs ago

Trying not to laugh here. But the answer is, he waited about 23 years too long to begin thinking about this. NO, he cannot even begin to attempt to collect on such a claim today -- not even if he just awoke from the 24-year coma yesterday. Someone else could have filed that action on his behalf at the time.