What Does Liability Insurance Cover?

A pair of glasses and a pen are sitting on top of an insurance document.

Auto liability insurance is required by law in most states. It is a two-fold plan that covers bodily injury and property damage. Though these are separate, they are both legally required. Liability insurance covers property damage and injuries if the driver is at fault. How does liability insurance work? What does liability coverage pay for in St. Louis and beyond? Let’s take a closer look at the auto liability insurance definitions below. Learn more about gap insurance or extended warranty with our car financing hub.

How Does Liability Insurance Work?

What does liability insurance cover? While bodily injury and property damage fall into your overall liability coverage, each can have its set limits. Even though the state sets minimum limits, you can set your limits based on your financial situation at the moment. It is essential to set proper limits on your liability coverage that align with how much you can offer. 

What does liability coverage pay for? Liability insurance covers: 

Bodily Injury

  • Medical and hospital bills
  • Any long-term nursing care that may be needed
  • Funeral expenses in the event of a fatal accident
  • Rehab
  • Pain and suffering
  • Lost earnings

Property Damage

  • Repair expenses
  • Necessary part replacement
  • Vehicle damage
  • General property damage (house, personal property, etc.)
  • Pets

Remember, the critical factor is that this coverage mainly benefits the accident victim rather than the driver at fault. 

Liability Coverage Limits

Now that we’ve covered the auto liability insurance definitions, let’s discuss liability coverage limits. When setting up your plan with your St. Charles agent, you should discuss the coverage limits, which can be split or housed at a single limit. Here is the difference between the two options: 

  • With a single limit, there is no total limit per person; the lump sum will simply be spread across all those injured and all property damaged.
  • A split limit will allow you to select individual maximums for bodily injury payments per person, for all people injured, and for all property damage.

Learn More With Our Team at Suntrup Automotive Group 

Purchasing a new or used vehicle means properly reviewing all available auto loan insurance definitions and options. However, these liability coverage limits can be hard to understand, so contact our finance center if you have any lingering questions. It is better to have clear answers to questions like: How Does Liability Insurance Work? before making a big financial decision. Visit one of our dealerships whenever you are in the Fenton area. 

 

More from Suntrup Automotive Group

  • What Credit Score Do You Need to Buy a Car?

    It is one of the first questions people ask when they start thinking about financing a vehicle, and the honest answer is that there is no single number that unlocks car ownership. Lenders set their own standards, and those standards shift depending on whether you are financing new or used, how much you are putting…

  • What Is Considered High Mileage for a Used Car?

    If a used car’s odometer reads six figures, most shoppers slow down. The 100,000-mile mark has been treated as a hard limit for decades, and for a long time that caution made sense. But the vehicles on today’s used car lots are built very differently than what was on the road thirty years ago. What…

  • How to Increase Your Car’s Resale Value Through Maintenance

    When you drive a brand-new vehicle off the dealership lot, you instantly participate in one of the most predictable financial realities of the automotive world: depreciation. Over the first few years of a vehicle’s life, its market value naturally decreases. However, many car owners do not realize that depreciation is not a completely fixed percentage….

Contact Us


5926 S. Lindbergh Blvd
St. Louis, MO 63123
Suntrup Automotive Group 38.5214964, -90.3451239.