All states except Florida and New Hampshire require that car owners have bodily injury liability insurance. Since you likely have to buy it, it’s smart to know what you’re getting.

Learn more: How does car insurance work? The basics explained.

Bodily injury liability insurance pays for someone else's medical bills if they sustain injuries from an accident you caused.

Say you rear-end another vehicle at a stoplight, causing a neck injury for the other driver. In this scenario, you are financially responsible for the costs of the injury. Your bodily injury liability (BI) insurance pays these bills, plus your legal expenses if you’re sued over the accident, up to your policy limits.

Bodily injury is one element of liability car insurance. The other is property damage liability. They are sold together, with each having its own coverage limits. The limits specify the maximum amounts the insurance company will pay on your behalf.

Learn more: Most common types of car insurance explained

Insurance companies specify liability coverage limits with a series of three numbers, as in 25/50/20. Here's what the numbers mean:

1. The first number is the maximum bodily injury payout per person in one accident.

2. The second number is the maximum bodily injury payout per accident.

3. The third number is the maximum property damage payout per accident.

If your liability limits are 25/50/20, your insurance company will pay up to $25,000 for one person's injuries but no more than $50,000 if multiple people are injured. The $20,000 property damage limit pays to repair the other vehicle or other property involved.

Learn more: How much car insurance do I need?

Bodily insurance liability pays for four types of injury-related expenses for others when you have caused a car accident:

1. Medical bills. These include any bills from healthcare providers, such as emergency room services, follow-up treatments, and physical therapy.

2. Income loss. If the injured person misses work due to the accident, your bodily injury insurance can provide compensation for the lost wages.

3. Pain and suffering. Pain and suffering claims usually arise from lawsuits involving serious injuries with lengthy recovery periods.

4. Funeral expenses. Should the accident result in a fatality, bodily injury liability insurance can pay for the deceased's funeral costs.

Additionally, your liability coverage pays for your legal expenses if you are sued.

Your bodily injury liability insurance does not cover any medical bills for you or your passengers. Nor does your liability insurance cover any repairs to your own vehicle.

Liability insurance will also not pay out above your insurance limits. So if you have purchased low liability limits, you’re still legally on the hook for any remaining accident bills of other people once your insurance limits have been used up.

Learn more: How much does car insurance increase after an accident?

At a minimum, you must buy at least your state’s minimum requirements for auto insurance. Every state except Florida and New Hampshire mandates some level of bodily injury liability coverage.

The state minimum coverage level allows you to drive legally, but it may not protect your finances. It’s smart to buy liability limits that meet or exceed your net worth, or what you could be sued for in a car accident.

Expert tip: If you are worth $80,000, you may want to buy $100,000 in per-accident bodily injury coverage. This protects you from being wiped out financially by a serious car accident.

For high-net-worth individuals, buying umbrella insurance in addition to auto and homeowners insurance is a cost-effective way to get an extra layer of liability insurance.

In most states, insurance companies sell bodily injury liability coverage with property damage liability coverage. According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the average premium nationwide for both coverages is $661.89 annually or $55.16 monthly.

Personal injury protection (PIP) is another type of auto insurance that pays for injury-related costs arising from car accidents, and in some states, you have to buy both liability and PIP.

In PIP states, you can still sue the other driver if your injuries are severe and surpass a certain “tort threshold.” That’s why you still need bodily injury insurance even when PIP is required.

Here are the key differences between bodily insurance and PIP

Driving without bodily injury liability is illegal in most states. If you are pulled over without your state's required insurance, the consequences can include:

1. Suspension of license and vehicle registration

2. Fines

3. Vehicle impoundment

4. Jail time or community service

5. Requirement to file an SR-22 certificate of financial responsibility

The greater risk of driving without bodily injury liability is causing an accident and not having insurance to pay for it. The Insurance Information Institute reports the average bodily injury claim was $26,501 in 2023 (the latest data available), but costs can go much higher if there are serious injuries or multiple people injured.

Learn more: What happens if you don’t have car insurance?

$100,000/$300,000/$100,000 refers to auto liability insurance limits. The first $100,000 is the amount of bodily injury coverage per person, $300,000 is the bodily injury coverage per accident, and the last $100,000 is the coverage limit for property damage liability. For example, if three people are injured in the accident, the policy will pay a maximum of $100,000 for each person and no more than $300,000 in total.

If you drive without bodily injury coverage, you’re driving uninsured. You may be ticketed or fined if caught. You may also have your license or vehicle registration suspended. If you cause an accident, you may be financially responsible for others' injury-related costs.

Amy Danise and Tim Manni edited this article