What Does Car Liability Insurance Take Care Of?
Car liability insurance is the bare minimum required insurance for automobiles in most states. Almost every state requires that you have proof of insurance before you are able to drive a vehicle. This is intended to protect everyone from financial hardship in the case of an accident. The costs of auto repairs, medical bills, and legal fees can be quite overwhelming to handle on your own. In order to supersede this problem, car liability insurance is required by most states. You don't have to purchase full coverage insurance, liability insurance is generally sufficient (though not necessarily recommended).
What is Liability Only Car Insurance?
Liability only car insurance is the insurance coverage that protects you from the costs of damage you do to others outside of our vehicle; meaning it doesn't cover your injuries or the injuries of your passengers. It generally covers bodily injury, property damage, and legal bills if you are the cause of an accident.
What auto liability insurance doesn't cover is damage to your own vehicle when you are in an accident that you cause. It also does not cover damage to your vehicle unrelated to accidents. These types of personal coverage are generally handled in full coverage auto insurance, or in comprehensive or collision coverage.
Liability insurance for car ownership can be split into three different parts, and is often represented numerically in this form xx/xx/xx. These numeric values determine the maximum amounts the insurance company is willing to pay on your claim. The first value is the maximum amount an insurance company will pay for the injuries of a single individual in one accident. The second value is the maximum the insurance company will pay for all individual's bodily injuries in one accident. And the third value is the maximum amount your insurance policy will cover for property damage per accident.
Most states will determine the minimum amount that they require for each of the different car liability insurance parts. For example, California's minimum required liability coverage for cars is 15/30/5. This means that they require coverage of $15,000 injury to one person, $30,000 injury to one or more persons, and $5,000 damage to property per accident. Be sure to check with your individual state and insurance policy to determine what your minimum required ratios are and what your actual coverage ratios end up being.
Is Car Rental Liability Insurance Any Different?
To answer the question, no, liability insurance for a rental car is not much different than traditional liability insurance. Car rental insurance is not a topic that many people are familiar with, though it is required by law in most states.
Before you rush out and get coverage for your rental car however, there are a couple of alternatives that you can check into first. Many full coverage auto insurance policies will automatically cover your liability insurance on a rental. Check with your individual policy to see if this is the case.
The second alternative is through credit card car rental insurance. Interestingly enough, many credit card companies will offer liability insurance protection for your rental if you pay for the rental on their credit card. This may be a good alternative to short term car insurance, particularly if you are already going to be using a credit card for your vacation.
As with coverage for your primary vehicle, rental vehicles require at minimum liability insurance. This will generally cost in the range of $10-20 a day. You will have the option to add collisions and comprehensive coverage to the rental policy as well, though it is generally not required.
As with all insurance, in order to find the cheapest car liability insurance, make sure that you take the time to fully participate in the quote process. Taking a couple of extra minutes to research what you are purchasing can make a huge difference in the outcome of your policy.
When you are looking for car liability insurance quotes, make sure that you know what you are required for coverage in your particular state. Most states require at minimum liability coverage, and a number of states require PIP (Personal Injury Protection) coverage in addition. The quote process is not difficult; make sure you take the time to complete it. The best way to learn the process is to do it.
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