When it’s time to purchase or renew your auto insurance, protect yourself by knowing what you are required to have. Below you will find some of the options available to you as well as a list of requirements by state.
When you and your family buckle up, you want to be sure that you have the best protection possible. To that end, a dizzying number of auto insurance types have popped up, all with different companies offering different details on what is included under coverage and how much they charge for premiums.
Before you get frustrated, make sure that you have the minimum requirements at least. There are certain kinds and dollar amounts of insurance that are required by law. Every state requires different kinds of insurance and different amounts of each. One type that almost every state requires is liability insurance.
Liability Insurance
Liability insurance is the most important car insurance and is required for drivers in most states. It covers you against costs incurred by damage and injury to the other party in an accident that’s your fault.
Liability insurance is comprised of two parts, bodily injury liability and property damage liability. As you might guess from the names, bodily injury liability covers the costs of injury to the persons you hit in an accident and property damage liability covers the damage to their vehicle (and in some cases, property in the car ruined during the accident).
Split Limits
Most auto insurance liability policies are named with three numbers. These numbers are called the split limits. If the split limits are 75/125/50 on your policy, then you would be covered for up to $75,000 in damages for bodily injury you cause another person, $125,000 in damages for any bodily injuries endured, and $50,000 for coverage of damage to property.
The amount of coverage required depends on your state’s auto insurance requirements. The requirements for each state are listed below.
Medical Payments Insurance
This auto insurance policy is beneficial because no matter who is at fault in an accident, you and your family (and all passengers in your car) are covered for bodily injury. Coverage is immediate, after the car accident. There are a variety of different policies available within the medical payments insurance group. Some may even compensate you and other passengers for wages or services lost due to injury caused by the accident.