Understanding Auto Limits

What the heck do any of my auto limits even mean? On your auto policy you have liability limits. Thos limits are Bodily Injury & Property damage. One is for bodily injury and the other is for property damage you cause to another including passengers in your vehicle. They are split into two limit amounts per person and per accident. So, if you carry 100/300/100 on your policy you have 100,000 per person bodily injury limits with a per accident limit of 300,000 and 100,000 available for property damage you may cause. Then there are normally underinsured bodily injury & underinsured / uninsured as well as underinsured / uninsured property damage. The underinsured / uninsured coverage protects you and your passengers when struck by a motorist that is either uninsured / or under insured. Then, you have your deductibles (this means you've added full coverage) comprehensive, other than collision like theft, flood, or hail. Collision which is when your car collides with another vehicle and or strikes something like pole or mailbox. You can then add additional coverages to you auto like, decreasing deductibles, zero glass deductibles, rental car, roadside / towing. Traditionally 100/300/100 have been the average typical limit carried by drivers, however when the time is right, we suggest you move to 250/500/100. If you own a home, have a youthful driver, or have additional toys like a boat, jets ski, or motorcycle you should be covering your liability exposures with those limits. For instance, let's say you are at fault for an accident that causing bodily injury to you and another driver in the other car. The driver in the other car can claim bodily injury and property damage on your insurance policy. If they get $100,000 available for their injury and the costs exceed that amount, you are responsible for the remainder. At some point when you have accumulated more things, you need to raise your liability limits to help better protect what you have overall. Courts can place wage garnishments, liquidate real estate for equity, retirement plans, or liquidate anything you own to pay the cost of you owe for that other person's damages and bodily injury. Have a candid conversation with your agent about what your need is liability limit wise, what their recommendations are, and how that all fits into your affordability. And if you have state limits, or just above I would suggest you change that as soon as you can. Insurance protects you from financial harm, state minimum limits guarantees that you could suffer financial harm from an auto loss. In this day in age, it's just not a smart move, and you are NOT saving enough to take that risk.