Per Person vs. Per Accident
The first number caps what any one injured person can receive; the second caps the whole accident, no matter how many people are hurt. Example: with 25/50, two badly injured people can each draw up to $25k — but together they stop at $50k. Three people? Still $50k total, split between them.
The two numbers on the bodily injury line of a car policy are not a range and not a total. They are two ceilings that apply to the same crash at the same time, and a claim has to fit under both of them.
The per person number caps everything paid for one individual's injuries. That person's medical bills, lost wages and related damages all count against it together. The per accident number caps the total paid for every injured person in that one crash added up. With 50/100, no single person draws more than $50,000, and everyone together stops at $100,000.
The ceilings do not lend to each other. Two seriously injured people on 50/100 limits do not split $100,000 freely, because each of them is still held to $50,000. Five injured people on those same limits share the same $100,000, so the money thins out as the number of claimants grows.
This pair applies to injuries only. Damage to vehicles and other property sits under property damage liability, which uses a single per-accident ceiling with no per-person split. Together the three figures make up split limits.
A combined single limit removes the distinction by putting injuries and property into one pool. Policy wording shapes the edges too. A claim that grows out of someone else's injury, such as a spouse's claim for loss of companionship, is generally folded into that injured person's per-person ceiling rather than opening a second one, though courts have not all read the wording the same way.
In real life
Three friends are hurt when a driver carrying 50/100 limits crosses the center line. Their bills come to $70,000, $45,000 and $20,000, or $135,000 in all. The first claim is trimmed to $50,000 by the per-person ceiling. The other two sit under it. That leaves $50,000 plus $45,000 plus $20,000, which the per-accident ceiling then cuts to $100,000. The remaining $35,000 goes unpaid by the policy.
Common questions
What do the two numbers on car insurance liability mean?
They are both limits, both written in thousands, and both apply to injuries. The first is the most the policy pays for any one injured person. The second is the most it pays for all injured people in a single crash combined. A 100/300 policy pays up to $100,000 per person and up to $300,000 for the whole crash.
Can two people each get the full per accident limit?
No. The per-accident number is a shared ceiling for the entire crash, not an amount available to each claimant. On 25/50 limits, two injured people are each held to $25,000 by the per-person ceiling and to $50,000 between them. Adding more injured people does not raise the per-accident figure; it divides the same total among more claims.
Does the per person limit apply to property damage?
No. Property damage liability carries one ceiling for each accident, covering all the property damaged in it regardless of how many owners are involved. The per-person and per-accident pair applies only to bodily injury. On a combined single limit policy neither split exists, because injuries and property draw from the same pool.
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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.