Why Auto Insurance Bodily Injury Limits Matter Part 1

Many people try to keep their auto insurance premium amount as low as possible which there is nothing wrong with that. However, many do it by having the lowest bodily injury limits available, also known as state minimum limits. This is not good, for many reasons including the increasing price of cars, and medical costs. In Kansas, the minimum limit you are allowed to run is 25,000/50,000/25,000. What do those numbers mean? The first 25,000 is the total amount your insurance company will payout for the other party's medical bills. The 50,000 is the total amount your insurance would pay for the other party's medical bills. The last 25,000 is for property damage; this includes the other party's vehicle, for example. Just for a second, I want you to think about the first two numbers your insurance will pay out per person and the total they will pay. Recently I had a client that had to go to the emergency room after being involved in a minor accident in which he only had minor bumps and bruises. After the ambulance ride and ER visit in which they ran a few tests on him, the bills totaled over $35,000. To put that into perspective, if you were running the state minimum limit, you would be responsible for the other $10,000. If that happened to you today, would you be able to come up with that money? If not, then I would increase your bodily injury limits. The lowest I personally would recommend is 50,000/100,000/50,000. However, if possible, I would have 100,000/300,000/100,000 to ensure that you are completely covered.