| DNA Life Stories - Bodily Injury Liability Carl, 62 Married grandfather near retirement Last summer during a road trip, I got caught in a nasty patch of fog. I couldn’t see a thing—not even the side of the road. Before I knew it, I’d slammed into an oncoming pickup. You can imagine that we were all in bad shape. The other driver spent a week in the hospital, and his bills added up fast. Thank heavens for my Bodily Injury Liability coverage. It helped cover the costs. Without it, my entire savings might have been wiped out. Tim, 35 Married rookie dad Before our daughter was born, my wife and I took some time to look over our finances, wills, insurance, you name it. With a growing family, we decided to raise the limits on all our insurance policies, including the car insurance. Our Bodily Injury Liability coverage really got my attention. Did you know that if you cause an accident that injures someone else, they can sue you for their medical bills, lost income, and “pain and suffering”? That could add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. We’re doing well in our careers, but not that well. So we decided to get the highest coverage we could afford. It raised our insurance premium a little, but considering everything we have to protect these days, it’s worth it. Eric, 43 Single dad of two, going back to school I never eat while I’m driving, but things get hectic during midterms. As I was driving across campus, with dinner in hand, my drink spilled—at the exact moment a couple of students started across the road. I swerved, but still hit one. The student was hurt bad enough to need an ambulance ride and some x-rays. He recovered pretty quick—and so did I, thanks to my Bodily Injury Liability coverage. Without it, I could have been on the hook for his medical bills. Alice, 45 Single mother of two I was driving my kids home from school one day and they just wouldn’t stop fighting. I must have taken my eyes off the road for two seconds. But the car in front of us stopped and I ran right into them. The other driver ended up going to the hospital and I was responsible for his medical bills. Let me tell you, they weren’t cheap. Luckily I had enough Bodily Injury Liability coverage on my auto insurance. Heather, 64 Widowed and retired My husband always used to take care of the car insurance. But when he passed on last year, I had to learn about the different types of coverage for myself. I knew nothing at first, but after talking it through with my Allstate agent, I feel like I picked the right insurance for what I need. Like this Bodily Injury Liability insurance. Did you know if you cause an accident and someone else is hurt, they can sue you if you don’t have enough coverage? Medical bills can add up fast. So even though I’ve never needed it in the past, I decided to get more than the minimum required limits. Now I don’t have to worry about an accident costing me my nest egg. Amy, 32 Married, no kids, buying her first home When my husband and I were house hunting, I did a lot of driving. It seemed like we were in a different neighborhood every day. One house we looked at was really hard to find. I was looking for house numbers and trying not to get lost, and I didn’t even see the cyclist who was riding on the road ahead of me. Let me tell you, that’s the sort of accident you never want to be in. The guy was hurt pretty bad, and of course I was horrified and guilt-ridden. The good news is that he made a full recovery, and my Bodily Injury Liability coverage took care of all his medical bills. Oh, and we ended up getting a house that’s much easier to find! Mike, 23 Recent grad starting first job My dad insists that I need really good car insurance. I don’t plan on having an accident any time soon, but he always tells me “Better safe than sorry.” So I got some extra Bodily Injury Liability coverage. It actually didn’t add much to my insurance premium. Now if I get in an accident and the other driver gets hurt, it will cover a lot of medical costs. So I guess it was a good idea after all. Jenny, 24 Young professional, just married and getting ready to move in with husband I learned my lesson about this coverage last year. Actually I learned my friend Angela’s lesson. She had a “bad driving day” and plowed into some guy downtown. He ended up in the hospital and Angie ended up responsible for huge bills. Her Bodily Injury Liability coverage was the state required minimum, and the total coverage was less than half of the actual medical bills. She had to cover the additional expenses herself. It was horrible. Since then, I’ve upped my coverage a lot. It hasn’t added too much to my insurance premium, but when I think about what happened to Angie? It’s totally worth it. Greg, 22 About to graduate and buying his first car I’ve never needed this coverage myself, but a friend of mine did last semester. He caused a big wreck by turning left in front of a car that was coming toward him. There was major damage and the other driver ended up in the hospital with some pretty serious injuries. My buddy was scared to death, since the bills would end up being his responsibility. But since he had decent Bodily Injury Liability coverage, the other driver’s medical bills got paid off. Otherwise, who knows? He might have gotten sued. |