{"id":26362,"date":"2024-10-01T15:03:15","date_gmt":"2024-10-01T15:03:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oxfordriskllc.com\/blog\/?p=26362"},"modified":"2024-10-01T15:15:33","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T15:15:33","slug":"state-minimum-coverage-is-it-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oxfordriskllc.com\/blog\/insurance\/state-minimum-coverage-is-it-enough\/","title":{"rendered":"State Minimum Coverage: Is it Enough?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Do you know how much car insurance you actually need?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most states require a driver to carry a minimum amount of car insurance in order to drive legally in the state they live in.  These state minimum coverage requirements vary from state to state, and they\u2019re typically centered around liability insurance coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liability insurance is what protects a driver against any claims arising from injuries, deaths, or property damage which they may have caused in an auto accident.  Liability also covers any legal costs or payments a driver is found responsible for if they are at fault in an accident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Ohio, for example, the state minimum for liability coverage is written as 25\/50\/25.  This means that a driver must carry enough bodily injury insurance to cover at least $25,000 for any one<\/em> person they injure, with a limit of $50,000 available for bodily injury coverage per accident.  Additionally a driver must carry at least $25,000 in property damage liability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

State minimum coverage is the least expensive option for car insurance, but is it really enough?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is that $25,000 in personal property coverage enough when a driver is at fault in an accident involving, for instance, a Cadillac?  In 2023, the base price for a Cadillac Escalade started at just under $81,200.  With only $25,000 in property damage coverage, the driver in question would be \u201con the hook\u201d for $56,200 or more if the Cadillac was totaled and had to be replaced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What about bodily injury coverage?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

$25,000 might cover the hospital bills for one person in a fender bender, between the ambulance ride and any basic ER tests, but what if a driver is at fault in a bad accident where someone sustains $100,000 worth of injuries?  That driver would be responsible for paying the excess $75,000 out of pocket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What if there are three people in the car and each of them sustain $25,000 worth of injuries?  The state minimum of $50,000 per accident would not be enough to cover all of them.  That driver would be responsible for $25,000 out of pocket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another unfortunate possibility is that a driver could be at fault in an accident that results in a fatality.  The state minimum of $25,000 per person is unlikely to be enough coverage in a situation like that, and the at-fault driver could be sued for hundreds of thousands of dollars or more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most insurance experts recommend carrying at least 100\/300\/50 or 100\/300\/100 on a \u201cfull coverage\u201d policy, but it’s also worthwhile to consider a personal liability umbrella policy for additional protection, especially if you have a high net worth and a lot of assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, with the ever-increasing cost of hospital bills, vehicle prices, and inflation we\u2019re seeing these days, you may want to think twice about the risk of driving around with only state minimum coverage.  Those few extra dollars per month might mean one less coffee at Starbucks, but they might also save you hundreds of thousands of dollars in the long run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you know how much car insurance you actually need? Most states require a driver to carry a minimum amount of car insurance in order to drive legally in the state they live in.  These state minimum coverage requirements vary from state to state, and they\u2019re typically centered around liability insurance coverage. Liability insurance is… Read More »State Minimum Coverage: Is it Enough?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[10,9,11],"class_list":["post-26362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-insurance","tag-auto-insurance","tag-car-insurance","tag-required-insurance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxfordriskllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxfordriskllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxfordriskllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordriskllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordriskllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26362"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordriskllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26362\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26370,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordriskllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26362\/revisions\/26370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxfordriskllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordriskllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordriskllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}