The 3 Most Important Insurance Coverages In a Massachusetts Car Accident

Three of the most important types of Massachusetts car insurance coverage are: Bodily Injury to Others; Bodily Injury Caused by an Uninsured Auto ("Uninsured Coverage"); and Bodily Injury Caused by an Underinsured Auto ("Underinsured Coverage").

Bodily Injury to Others ("BI" Coverage): gives you coverage when you hurt someone else in an accident caused by you; even a passenger who may be a family member.

Bodily Injury Caused by an Uninsured Auto ("Uninsured Coverage"): gives you coverage when the person who hits you and causes your injuries has no auto insurance coverage or when you are hurt by a "hit and run" driver.

Bodily Injury Caused by an Underinsured Auto (Underinsured Coverage"): gives you extra coverage when the person who hits you and causes you injuries doesn't have enough car insurance to pay for your injuries and damages.  

The first two coverages, Bodily Injury to Others and Uninsured Coverage, are mandatory insurance coverages (called "compulsory coverage") in Massachusetts - which means that everyone who owns a car in Massachusetts must buy them. Massachusetts law requires that every auto owner buy minimum coverage of $20,000 that would be paid for each person injured in an accident, up to a total maximum of $40,000 to be paid out per accident. (This is commonly referred to as "20/40" by insurance agents and insurance adjusters). 

What this means is that an insurance company will only pay up to $20,000 for each person injured in an accident, but it won't pay more than a total of $40,000 for all of the people injured in an accident. So if there are two people seriously hurt in an accident, an insurance company might pay $20,000 to each person for a maximum payout of $40,000 for that accident. 

To learn about how important Underinsured Coverage is to protect your families, click here.

At Phillips Garcia Law, we take Massachusetts auto insurance coverage seriously. So much so, that we "wrote the book" about it. To learn about the 5 Biggest Mistakes That Massachusetts Consumers Make When Buying Car Insurance, get our book ABSOLUTELY FREE.  Our Massachusetts personal injury lawyers represent people seriously hurt in car accidents throughout the SouthCoast, Massachusetts cities and towns of New Bedford, Fall River, Wareham, Dartmouth, Fairhaven, Freetown, Acushnet, Taunton, Rochester and Freetown.