Bodily Injury Liability
Pays for injuries you cause to others. The two numbers, like 25/50, are in thousands: up to $25,000 for any one person’s injuries, and up to $50,000 total for everyone hurt in the crash. When a cap is hit, the rest is on you.
Bodily injury liability is the part of a car insurance policy that pays other people when you are at fault for hurting them. It does not pay your own medical bills, and it does not repair any vehicle. It exists to cover the harm you cause to someone else.
It is written as two numbers, like 25/50, both in thousands. The first is the ceiling for any one injured person. The second is the ceiling for everyone injured in a single crash combined. How those ceilings interact is covered in per person vs. per accident. Add a third number for property and you have split limits.
What the coverage responds to is broader than a hospital bill. It generally reaches medical treatment, lost wages, and, where state law allows, pain and suffering. It also pays for a lawyer to defend you if the injured person sues, and defense costs are typically paid in addition to the limit rather than out of it.
Nearly every state requires some amount of this coverage, and the required minimum varies widely from state to state. Those minimums are floors written by legislatures, not measurements of what a serious injury costs. Your own injuries fall to other coverages instead, such as MedPay, PIP in no-fault states, or health insurance.
When the limit is reached, the insurer stops paying and the unpaid balance stays with the at-fault driver as a personal debt that can be pursued in court. An umbrella policy is the extra layer some households carry above these limits.
In real life
You run a stop sign and injure the driver of the other car. Her bills come to $61,000, made up of $44,000 in treatment and $17,000 in lost wages. Your policy carries 25/50 bodily injury limits, so the insurer pays $25,000 toward her claim, and if she sues, it also pays to defend you. The other $36,000 sits outside the policy, and she can pursue it from you directly.
Common questions
What does bodily injury liability cover?
It covers injuries you cause to other people when you are at fault: the other driver, their passengers, pedestrians, and generally passengers riding in your own vehicle. Some policies and some states treat injuries to your own household members differently. Depending on state law it can pay medical treatment, lost wages, and pain and suffering, and it pays the cost of defending you if the injured person sues. It does not cover your own injuries or any vehicle damage.
Does bodily injury liability cover my own injuries?
No. Bodily injury liability pays other people, not the driver who caused the crash. Injuries to you and your household are generally handled by medical payments coverage, personal injury protection in no-fault states, uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage when another driver is at fault, or ordinary health insurance. Which of those apply depends on the state and on what the policy includes.
How much bodily injury liability do I need?
That is a decision for you and a licensed producer, not something a definition can settle. The factual context: state minimums are set by legislatures and are often far below the cost of a serious injury, treatment for one badly hurt person can pass six figures, and anything above the limit becomes the at-fault driver's personal debt. Higher limits generally carry a higher premium.
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Definitions describe how these terms are generally used across the U.S. market. Wording, limits and exclusions vary by insurer, policy form and state — the policy you hold is what controls. See the full Insurance Glossary.