Auto Liability Coverage covers the cost to repair the damage to a vehicle you hit. It also covers the driver and passengers of the vehicle you hit if they were injured in the accident up to the limits of liability you purchased.

What Is Auto Liability Coverage?

Auto liability coverage is to help you cover the costs to repair someone else vehicle in case “you” cause an accident and the other party, their vehicle and/or their passenger(s) get hurt. It depends on your limits of liability (15/30/5, 15/30/10, 25/50/15, 50/100/25 etc…) as to how much your insurance company will cover on a claim.

Just know, auto liability coverage only covers the other person, their vehicle(s) and their passengers in an accident. You, your vehicle and your passengers won’t be covered, if the accident is your fault. Which means you will have to pay out-of-pocket to fix your own car and may have to buy a new one, if it is totaled. And your passengers’ medical bills, if they have any (God forbid), will be on you to cover as well if the accident is your fault.

Auto Liability Coverage is the minimum coverage allowed by state law to legally drive a vehicle. Here in California, the minimum required amount to drive legally is 15/30/5. $15,000 per person, per accident. $30,000 total, per accident and $5,000 property damage, per accident. You can always get higher limits if you want them, which I would recommend, at least 25/50/15. $25,000 per person, $50,000 total per accident, and $15,000 property damage.

What’s Covered In An Accident With Just Auto Liability Coverage?

Say you cause an accident and only have Auto Liability Coverage your insurance provider will pay up to the limits of liability you’ve purchased. Say you have the bare minimum, it would cover up to $15,000 per person, $30,000 per accident and $5000 in property damage you cause, per accident. So, if you have higher coverage limits such as $25,000/$50,000/$15,000 then it will cover the person, vehicle, and passengers you hit up to those limits.

Your Limits of Liability are the amounts you agreed on when you first signed your insurance policy and that’s how your monthly premium is calculated. They are exactly what your insurance provider will pay if you’re involved in an accident. The higher the limits, the higher the premium. They’re broken down like this: Everything is in thousands, it is shortened.

So, with 15/30/5 limits the first number is going to be the (Per Person) part of the limit, the second number is the (Per Accident) and the third and final number is the (Property Damage).

So, if you have 15/30/5 limits of liability that would mean your insurance provider would cover up to (15) $15,000 per person in case of injuries suffered from an accident. The (30) would mean your insurance provider would cover up to $30,000 total per accident. And lastly, the (5) is the $5,000 in property damage your insurance provider would cover in an accident.

How Much Auto Liability Coverage Should You Get?

How much Auto Liability Coverage you get is totally up to you. It depends on a lot of different factors. Do you want Uninsured,/Underinsured Motorist Protection or Roadside Assistance? These are optional coverages you can add to your policy without having (Full Coverage) Comp and Collision added. It depends on what you want, what you can afford and what you’re willing to pay.

If you’re tight on money and only looking to be legally insured to drive a vehicle than the cheapest you can find would work in this situation. If your car is around 10 years or older and you want to get coverage but not the cheapest then maybe a higher coverage limit is what you’re looking for.

Now, Say you have a vehicle, that is already paid off you might want to look into getting Full Coverage. Or if you just bought a fairly newer vehicle from the dealership or a car lot and you’re making payments on it, you probably have a lien holder, so you might have to get full coverage auto insurance.

What it breaks down to is this: if you want to know for sure “your” car will be repaired or replaced in the event of an accident then you have to dish out a little more doe and pay a higher monthly premium to get full coverage auto insurance. But if it’s an older car and you’re not to worried about it or you’re planning on getting a newer one sometime in the near future and you just need to be legally insured to drive, then the cheapest auto liability coverage will work for you.

Auto Liability Coverage Vs Full Coverage?

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Auto Liability Coverage is to help you cover the costs of the other person, their vehicle repairs and their injured passengers if you were to cause an accident and hurt somebody. Now, if you only have Auto Liability Coverage and were hit by another person who only has auto liability coverage then their insurance may or may not cover your vehicle repairs up to $3500.

Now, that’s where Full Coverage auto insurance comes into play. Full Coverage auto insurance will cover you, your vehicle, and your injured passengers if you were in an accident that you were at fault for or not. It will also cover the person you hit, their vehicle and their injured passengers. Along with property damage caused by the accident, if it was your fault.

Now here’s something you should know when choosing your auto coverage. Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Protection (UMP) and Roadside Assistance (RA) are optional coverages. You have to request these to be added to your policy. Even if you have “Full Coverage” you do not automatically get (UMP) or (RA) coverage. They would still need to be added by request onto your policy.

Conclusion

We all want to be covered in the event of an auto accident. Sometimes, our budget won’t allow that though so we buy the cheapest insurance we can afford. Just think that the cheaper the premium is, the less that will be covered in an accident. Say you can afford a little more then get a little more. Get as much auto coverage as you can afford. You never know when you’re going to need to use your insurance and if you don’t have a second vehicle to use in case of emergencies you might want to consider higher coverages.

Thank you for reading this post and if you have any questions please feel free to ask them in the comments below or call the number at the top of the page.

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Joyride Insurance Services, Inc.

​Latresa Hamburger