Auto Insurance Limits, What Do The Numbers Mean?
What do all of the numbers on your auto insurance policy mean?
Today we’re going to go over those confusing limits on your automobile insurance policy. You know you bought a car you know that Maryland requires that you have auto liability insurance coverage but what really does that mean? 
Do you know most people that I’ve run into really don’t understand their auto insurance coverage? That’s why you need to talk to a professional independent insurance agent like Huff Insurance.
So let me take a moment to explain your auto insurance limits.
Bodily Injury: The bodily injury limits will be listed as per person / per accident. The first limit that you see in the per person field is the maximum amount that your carrier will pay for damages and injuries that you caused with your motor vehicle to another person, okay. That is the maximum amount they’ll pay for any one person. The second per accident limit is the most that they’ll pay for everyone in the vehicle. And that is the total limit for bodily injury that they will pay.
So if you have state minimum limits here in Maryland of $30,000 per person $60,000 per accident it means the most that they’re going to pay for any one person is $30,000, and the most that they’re going to pay for everybody is $60,000. So if there’s five people involved still the most that they’re going to pay is a total of $60,000.
Property Damage: In Maryland the statement a mom is $15,000. So that means that the damage that you caused to someone else’s property. That could be a vehicle that could be that you ran into a house or business you hit a sign you hit multiple vehicles. The most that they’re going to pay for all of the property damage is $15,000. So you hit someone who has a brand new car that cost $50,000, you’re going to be left having to pay the rest of that coverage out of your pocket because you don’t have enough limits on your car insurance policy to handle the claim.
Combined Single Limit (CSL): Some policies will have a combined single limits for the bodily injury and property damage combined. So in this case, there is not per person sub limit and the company will pay up to the policy limits for all bodily injuries and property damage up to the policy limit.
Personal Injury Protection (PIP): Usually most people have $2,500 per person. PIP is a wonderful coverage it pays regardless of whose fault the accident is, for your medical bills your lost wages and also essential services. So for example you normally clean your house every week but because you were injured in the accident you cannot do that and you need to hire someone you can use your pip benefits to pay that claim.
Medical Payments: Medical payments would be to cover additional medical bills regardless of fault of the accident for yourself and other people under your policy up to a limit of either $1,000 to generally $5,000 or $10,000 depending on the insurance carrier.
Uninsured Motorist Coverage:. In Maryland that also covers underinsured motorist. So that means that if someone hits you and they have lower liability limits than yourself, then you could collect from your auto insurance policy under the uninsured underinsured motorist coverage for the difference. Also if someone hits you in a hit-and-run and they leave the scene or that the person who hit you doesn’t have any auto insurance then you would be able to collect under your own uninsured motorist coverage.
Then you’ll notice that you may have comprehensive and collision coverage on the policy.
Comprehensive Coverage: This is to cover the vehicle for things such as glass breakage, flood, collision with an animal, falling objects, etc.
Collision Coverage: This covers your vehicle if the accident is your fault and there’s damage done to your vehicle.
Towing Coverage: Towing is to provide coverage in the event that your vehicle becomes disabled. This coverage is usually on a reimbursement basis, meaning that you will have to pay the tow company and then seek reimbursement from your insurance company up to the limit of coverage.
Roadside Assistance: This is a little bit broader than towing coverage. Roadside assistance will cover other things, such a lock outs, tire changes, etc. You will call a number provided by your auto insurance company, and they will call the roadside assistance company to meet you at your car for the service.
Rental reimbursement coverage: This coverage comes into play if you have an at fault accident and you need to pay for a rental car while your vehicle is being fixed. They will pay up to the limit per day and the total maximum limit. So if your coverage is $30/$900, they will pay $30 per day for up to 30 days or $900 total. The company will pay for the reasonable time it takes to repair your car. If your car is deemed to be a total loss and the insurance company settles the claim with you, the rental coverage will stop at that time as well.
Please always consult your insurance agent here at Huff Insurance for additional information or clarification about your coverages.
If you’re not sure that your limits of protection are adequate, then please give us a call at 410-647-1111 and we’ll be happy to talk to you.