Looking over your auto insurance policy options?
Whether you’re a seasoned driver or new to sitting behind the wheel, you need auto insurance. Without it, you’re at risk while behind the wheel.
Even the best drivers are involved in car accidents from time to time. When they happen, they’re expensive.
The first thing many people worry about regarding auto accidents is personal injury. Health is the number one priority, but with health insurance, you’re covered for your injuries. Paint and body repairs, engine damage, or totaled vehicles are also expensive side effects of car accidents.
If you drive an older vehicle, you might not worry about how much you’re covered in terms of repairs. Your car might not be worth that much from the insurance anyway, so you opt to save on your monthly insurance bill. But what about liability insurance? What is that and why do you need it?
State Minimum Coverage
Each state has specific state minimum coverage that every driver must carry. In Missouri, the state requires that you have liability insurance. This coverage does not protect your car. Instead, it protects the other people and vehicle if you’re involved in a collision.
Here’s what you are required to have at the bare minimum by the State of Missouri:
- $25,000 for bodily injuries per person
- $50,000 total for bodily injury per accident
- $10,000 total for property damage per accident
If you cause a car accident, the state requires you to carry enough coverage to protect the people in the other car up to $25,000 per person and up to $50,000 per accident. By only carrying state minimum coverage, you’re also protected up to $10,000 for property damage.
In addition to this liability coverage, Missouri also requires that you carry uninsured motorist coverage with the same amounts of $25,000 per person for bodily injury and $50,000 for total bodily injury in an accident.
These numbers seem high to a lot of people. That’s because most of us don’t have $60,000 cash on hand to pay for others injuries and property damage in case of an emergency. Take a closer look and you might be surprised by how little state minimum coverage protects you in an accident.
How Much Insurance Do You Really Need?
It’s tempting to stick with the state minimum coverage. It’s the cheapest insurance policy that you can legally get away with having. Plus, in Missouri, the state minimum coverage protects you against more than other states. For example, in New Jersey, drivers are only protected up to $15,000 for personal injury, $30,000 for injuries per accident, and $5000 for property damage.
Still, the minimum coverage is just that – the bare minimum.
Consider this:
- If you total a car that is only a few months old, you’ll end up paying thousands of dollars out of pocket toward the cost of the repair.
- If you hit a car that has expensive parts, such as a foreign made vehicle or an electric car, the repairs will skyrocket in price, costing you out of pocket.
- If there are severe injuries as a result of the crash, health care expenses can quickly soar over $25,000.
Without higher protection, you could drain your savings account to pay for other people’s injuries and car repairs.
We recommend protecting yourself while you’re on the road from the high costs of a car accident with at least a 100/300/100 policy. That means
- $100,000 in bodily injuries per person
- $300,000 in bodily injuries per accident
- $100,000 in property damage per accident
Higher limits could save you from astronomical medical bills and high repair costs.
Getting Peace of Mind
Accidents happen. You deserve to have peace of mind while you’re behind the wheel. With a slightly higher coverage, you can feel secure knowing that something goes wrong, you won’t put your family’s savings in jeopardy.
Call McGrath Insurance Group to get quotes for higher liability coverage beyond the state minimums. You might be surprised at how affordable it is.
