Liability car insurance is coverage that pays to repair the damage you cause to other people and their things. Liability just means “responsibility,” so liability insurance pays out when you’re responsible for an accident.
There are two types of liability insurance — bodily injury liability coverage and property damage liability coverage — and most states require you to have both.
Split liability limits
Most auto policies have three main liability limits, which are often summarized by three numbers. For example, you may see something like “30/60/15” as your state’s required minimum coverage. Here’s how to interpret that.
Bodily injury liability limit per person. The first number is the maximum your insurance will pay for injuries to a single person after an accident (“30” in the example above, standing for $30,000).
Bodily injury liability limit per accident. The second number is the maximum for injuries to everyone you hurt in the accident — not including your own injuries. The per-accident maximum comes into play if there are multiple people injured in an accident. (This is the “60” above, meaning $60,000.)
Property damage liability limit per accident. The final number represents the maximum amount your insurance company will pay for property damage you cause. That includes damage to cars, buildings or anything else that isn’t a person (“15” above, $15,000).
One distinction to remember: While bodily limits have a per-person limit, property damage liability has only a per-accident limit. If you hit three cars, the total your insurance will pay will be represented by that final number ($15,000 in this example), and you’ll be responsible for the rest.
An alternative to split limit liability coverage is one larger liability limit to cover both bodily injury and property damage. The flexibility of combined single limit liability means more financial protection than split limit coverage in many cases.
For example, let’s compare the split liability limit above (30/60/15) with a combined single limit of $60,000. Say you injured two people in an accident, and one required $10,000 worth of treatment while the other required $50,000. Under the split liability limit, you’d have to pay $20,000 for the second person’s injuries because their treatment exceeded your policy’s per-person maximum. But with a combined $60,000 liability limit, all treatment would be covered.
Combined single limit liability may cost more than split limits.
When someone refers to Full Coverage they are referring to Comprehensive and Collision coverages.
If your auto is damaged and you want the insurance company to repair or replace it, these are the coverages you will want.
Comprehensive: Also known as Comp or Other Than Collision. This will provide physical damage coverage to your auto if you hit an animal, experience a hail storm, fire, theft, or vandalism.
Collision: Will provide physical damage coverage if your auto is damaged in an accident. Whether you’re at-fault or not, Collision is going to help you repair or replace the damage. Maybe you back into a light pole at the grocery store or run into another vehicle…Collision coverage fixes your auto.
You have the option to purchase Comprehensive and Collision in addition to the basic liability coverage required by the state. Most often if you have a loan on the vehicle your bank will require Comprehensive and Collision coverages.
Renters insurance generally provides financial protection through four coverage types.
- Personal property damage: If your personal property is damaged in a covered peril, your renters insurance company will cover the cost of the damage up to your policy’s limits. A covered peril is a damaging event named in your policy (or not specifically excluded from coverage) such as fire, wind or theft.
- Personal liability: If someone is injured, or their property is damaged, and you are blamed for the event, your policy will cover liability costs, including the costs of your legal defense. A standard policy includes up to $100,000 in liability coverage.
- Additional living expenses: If your rental home or apartment becomes uninhabitable as a result of a covered peril, your renters insurance policy will pay expenses above and beyond your normal living expenses. This is sometimes called loss of use coverage.
- Medical Payments: Limited coverage for medical costs if a guest is injured on your property.
At a basic level, commercial insurance is aimed at helping businesses stay protected against risks that may threaten its success. Depending on the commercial lines coverage, it can be specifically aimed at protecting the reputation, wellbeing and financial situation of a business entity, as well as the employees working for the business.
Unlike personal insurance, commercial insurance can cover multiple stakeholders and employees. Commercial insurance also differs from personal insurance because it tends to have much higher limits of coverage, since there’s typically more physical property at stake.
Moreover, commercial insurance carriers and agents are specifically trained in the risks and threats that businesses face. Plans are often structured to cater to a company’s specific industry and day-to-day activities. Personal insurance plans, like auto or renters insurance, tend to have a more one-size-fits-all purchase process.
There are many types of commercial insurance. A few of the most common include:
Commercial auto and equipment breakdown insurance can be especially helpful for businesses that rely on tools or automobiles to conduct daily business. Similarly, property insurance can help protect tools and tech property like computers, desks, and office environments.
Workers compensation insurance is another common form of commercial insurance, often required by law, especially for businesses in the construction, manufacturing, repairing or engineering industries. This type of insurance helps protect the company from lawsuits in the case of a work-related injury and accident experienced by an employee – plus can help cover medical costs for an employee injured on the job.
Cyber liability insurance is a growing form of commercial insurance that can cover businesses in the event of data breaches and other cyber security threats. Since many businesses hold a great deal of personal information on their servers, being hacked can have lasting financial repercussions.
Packages and Business Owners Policy (BOP) Insurance are a common solution for business owners because it may offer a cost savings to “bundle” several policies together. Packages and BOPs can differ from business to business or carrier to carrier but may include property, general liability, crime and inland marine.
Business interruption insurance is also a smart investment in terms of commercial insurance. This can help protect your business from financial losses in the chance that a covered accident or unexpected event prevents your company from operating.
There are so many different options for buying life insurance but it’s actually not as complicated as it may seem. When it comes down to it, there are essentially two kinds of policies: term life insurance and whole life insurance. Term life insurance lasts for a specific amount of time (the term) and expires at the end of the term. Whole life insurance, on the other hand, is a form of permanent life insurance and lasts your entire life. There are more insurance plans that fall into these two categories, each with their own benefits and drawbacks.
Contact us to find the best plan for you