car liability insurance

[VitaMan]

As long as you have the minimum state requirement, is that all you would have to pay someone if you caused an accident.....and were not negligent, under the influence of alcohol, etc. ?

[TravelingTex]

Not a lawyer, but...
The other party can always sue for more damages above the state-mandated amount, tens of thousands of dollars varying by state. That is your minimum and their maximum of coverage. Anybody can sue for anything, because America! But they would have to get very creative in finding grounds to sue you, after their payout and after the cops said it wasn't your fault. I can't imagine what would convince a jury, but I'm not that creative attorney. If the other party needs all that much more money for their pain and repairs, their attorney might somehow try to blame the car manufacturer or the red-light manufacturer, with deeper pockets and more culpability than yours.

tl;dr: if no negligence/impairment by you, and after full payout by your insurance company, you're 99.999% legally bulletproof.

[Fizley]

Tex is correct. Say your hit a 100k Mercedes and are at fault for the accident. Say the collision total out the mercedes.

The other party would more than likely file under their collision and their insurance company would cut a check to their insured (or to their lien holder) for the value of the car.

Mercedes insurance company will pursue a claim against your insurance company. If you carry the state limits (for property damage), say 15K your insurance company would cut the other party a check for a maximum of 15K.

However, the Mercedes insurance company is still owed 85k for the damages in their settlement to their insured due to your negligence. The mercedes insurance company will at least send you to collections and depending on the value may pursue other collection avenues. This can affect your ability to get a mortgage or rent an apartment.

It will only get worse if injuries are involved, as you will likely involve an attorney that was hired for the person who you hit.

Buy higher limits. I am not an insurance sales, but the minimum I would carry is 100/300/100, and then stack an umbrella on top of it.

[VitaMan]

Thanks for the info. It sounds like if you are not negligent, and have the state liability minimum insurance coverage, you won't have to pay anything else out of your pocket.

[Fizley]

As long as your found to have no fault, your correct your insurance company will not have to pay. However, the only accident that usually comes with 100% fault is a situation of a rear end collision, where one car rear ends another car.

In all other accidents, fault can be found on a percentage. Let's take a red light/green light collision. Everyone agrees someone ran the red light, but if both parties say it wasn't me? Obviously someone is lying! Who is at fault? Unless there is a witness who can bring clarity, those types of accidents are often solved on a percentage basis. 50/50 or 30/60?

If we take the scenario of a 100$K MB being totaled out. If your found 30% and the other party is found 60% at fault in a red light green light situation, your total liability is 30$K. Your insurance pays their policy limit of 15$K and your owe $15K. The MB insurance company would probably send you to collections. Which would affect your ability to rent a house or get a mortgage.

Liability is a tricky thing, it can be argued so many ways. When attorneys get involved it's gets even trickier.

Don't skimp out on liability insurance. If you want to cut back on premium raise your deductible or drop collision coverage.