What is bodily injury liability coverage?

Bodily injury liability is what pays an injured person when the policyholder is at fault. It's the coverage most people assume every driver has.

Florida generally doesn't require it. The mandatory minimums are $10,000 PIP and $10,000 property damage liability. Bodily injury liability isn't required in most circumstances.

The consequence is severe. A driver can cause a catastrophic injury while carrying no coverage for it at all. The injured person's remedies are then their own PIP, their own uninsured motorist coverage if they have it, and a personal claim against a driver who likely has nothing.

What this means for your own policy. Carrying BI protects your assets if you cause a crash. And carrying uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage protects you from everyone else's lack of it — which, given the above, is the more common scenario.

When you're injured, one of the first things to determine is whether the at-fault driver carried BI and at what limits. That single fact frequently determines what a claim is worth.