{"id":3994,"date":"2019-02-21T11:08:05","date_gmt":"2019-02-21T18:08:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jacksonwhitelaw.com\/az-personal-injury\/?p=3994"},"modified":"2024-04-23T16:28:05","modified_gmt":"2024-04-23T23:28:05","slug":"personal-injury-vs-bodily-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jacksonwhitelaw.com\/az-personal-injury\/blog\/personal-injury-vs-bodily-injury\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the Difference Between Personal Injury & Bodily Injury?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/h2>\n

Sometimes, it feels like you need a law degree to understand what\u2019s covered by an auto insurance policy. With so many different categories, limits, and types of coverage, it\u2019s difficult to know what you get in return for your monthly premium. This takes on even more importance when you find yourself in an auto accident involving an injury.<\/p>\n

What is Personal Injury Protection?<\/h4>\n

Personal injury protection<\/a> (PIP) in an auto insurance policy covers medical expenses for yourself, your passengers, and (if applicable) any pedestrians that you strike in a car accident. Personal injury protection covers these expenses regardless of who is at fault for the accident.<\/p>\n

The full extent of medical expenses covered by personal injury protection coverage depends on the policy, but a standard policy should cover everything related to the accident — ambulance transportation, hospital bills, doctor visits, therapy, rehabilitation, medication, etc. In some cases, personal injury protection may even cover funeral expenses when the car accident results in a fatality.<\/p>\n

Note that your individual health insurance policy will cover many of these same charges. In fact, individual health insurance is the primary insurer in personal injury situations, so they get the bill first. Personal injury protection under your auto insurance policy is only intended to cover the charges that individual health insurance does not cover, such as co-pays and deductibles. For example, if you have a $1,000 deductible and 80-20 health insurance (the insurer pays 80%, you pay 20%), your auto insurance would reimburse you for the $1,000 deductible and the 20% of remaining charges that your health insurance policy doesn\u2019t cover.<\/p>\n

Examples of Personal Injury<\/h4>\n

Let\u2019s say you\u2019re driving down the road during the winter, hit a patch of black ice, and slide off the road into a wall. You\u2019re fortunate enough to walk away without any injuries, but your spouse in the passenger seat is injured, and a pedestrian who dove out of the way injured their arm. If your auto insurance policy\u2019s personal injury protection coverage has a $100,000 limit, your insurer would cover the medical charges for your injured spouse and the pedestrian up to that limit. Anything over that limit would be your personal responsibility.<\/p>\n

In another example, let\u2019s say you\u2019re driving alone and another vehicle crashes into your car. You and the other driver are the only parties involved (no passengers), and both parties are seriously injured. In this case, your personal injury protection would cover your medical charges, but it would not cover the other driver\u2019s. That would fall under your bodily injury coverage.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is Bodily Injury Liability?<\/h4>\n

Bodily injury liability coverage<\/a> is required by law in most states. When you injure one or more people in a car accident and you\u2019re determined to be at fault, your bodily injury liability coverage will pay for their medical expenses and lost income. If the injured parties file a personal lawsuit against you, your bodily injury liability coverage can help pay for your legal fees, too.<\/p>\n

For example, let\u2019s say you run a red light and crash into a vehicle making a left-hand turn. As you ran the red light and the other driver had a green light, you\u2019re fully at fault for the accident. When the injured driver files a personal injury lawsuit<\/a> against you to recover damages, your bodily injury liability coverage would pay for the damages up to the specified limit. As long as the settlement or judgement doesn\u2019t exceed the limit, your auto insurance would cover the full payment including legal fees.<\/p>\n

What is Covered Under Bodily Injury?<\/h4>\n

Let\u2019s flip the conversation and consider bodily injury from the perspective of the injured driver or passenger who is not at fault for the accident<\/a>. After you have received proper medical attention and assessed the damages from the accident, you can file a bodily injury claim with the other driver\u2019s insurance company to recover the following:<\/p>\n