The most important thing about liability auto insurance is making sure you meet your state’s minimum requirements. Almost every state requires some sort of minimum car insurance coverage to be the legal driver behind the wheel of a car. Many drivers make the mistake of driving without any insurance or moving and not meeting the new state’s minimum requirements.

The first thing you should understand is what exactly liability car insurance policy coverage is:

• The bottom line is that the basic liability insurance covers damage you cause such as medical bills for injuries and personal property.

Of course this only covers the other driver and does not protect you for your own damages in cases where you are the at fault driver. So the pressing issue at hand is to determine whether or not liability insurance is enough for you or if you need more.

Liability and Your Need to Know

Aside from some states that require drivers to carry “no fault” or PIP (Personal Injury Protection) insurance, you may only be required to carry liability. If you relocate, make sure your current car insurance provider alters your policy to reflect the guidelines of the new state you are calling home. Often this gets overlooked and you either:

• Do not have enough coverage for your current state when it comes to your required minimum car insurance or
• Pay more for extra coverage you are not required to have as mandated by your new home state

Should you be caught driving with less than is required by the state,you could receive tickets, fines and other related penalties. Even worse, in the event of an accident you may not even be covered at all. The important trick is not to wait until it is too late. Check with your current provider or shop for a new policy today. This will help you get the liability car insurance coverage you need at the prices you want.

The Liability Car Insurance Breakdown

If you are not familiar with liability auto insurance coverage you should be aware of what it all means. Generally you would see it written out like this:

• 20/50/25

Of course the numbers will vary on your individual state’s minimum requirements, but the format will be the same. The first number represents how much minimum coverage your liability policy must include per person for personal injury expenses and in this example would be $20,000. The middle number represents how much minimum coverage you must carry on your policy for total medical expenses per accident and in this case would be $50,000. Finally the last number is the amount of minimum liability auto insurance coverage you must have for personal property damages and here would be $25,000.

Of course it is often a good idea to carry more than the required minimum. Keep in mind if any of these expenses exceed the basic amount you are carrying, you will be financially responsible for the remaining balance. For instance, if you are the at-fault driver in a collision and the other driver is hospitalized, every dollar over that $20,000 will be yours to pay out of your own pocket.

The costs involved for a prolonged hospital stay, surgery, prescriptions and follow up care such as physical therapy can add up to $20,000 quickly. Many drivers who carry just the minimum end up in financial trouble and may even have to claim bankruptcy in the aftermath of a tragedy like this. The bottom line is that to protect yourself you should consider carrying more than the state minimum for liability.

Keep It Legal

Too many drivers also take the risk of breaking the law and driving without any insurance in place at all. For the small amount of money liability car insurance premiums can cost you per month, you can have total protection. Without the minimum required coverage you could end up in serious trouble with the law. Not only that but if you let your auto insurance coverage lapse for more than 30 days, you will find out you will have to pay much higher premiums when you do try to get car insurance coverage.

It is never worth the legal or financial responsibility when you could protect yourself with cheap liability insurance. In fact you can make the change and get started right now. By using just your zip code, you can get all those affordable liability auto insurance quotes delivered to you today.