Idaho residents are required to maintain Bodily Injury Liability and Property Damage Liability coverage for each personal use vehicle registered in Idaho. For more information regarding this requirements, please contact: Idaho Transportation Department – Division of Motor Vehicles
Liability Coverage
Bodily Injury Liability
Bodily Injury Liability coverage helps pay for other drivers’ and passengers’ injuries when the policyholder is at-fault in an accident. This coverage typically covers the other person’s medical bills.
Idaho law requires that you maintain a minimum of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident Bodily Injury Coverage on your auto insurance policy. The coverage limits on your policy are the maximum amount of money the insurance company is obligated to pay to the other person on your behalf. However, higher limits can be purchased for more protection.
Property Damage Liability
Property Damage Liability pays for damage to someone else’s property when you are at-fault for that damage (i.e. vehicle, fence, telephone pole, etc.).
Idaho law requires that you maintain a minimum of $15,000 in Property Damage Liability coverage on your auto insurance policy. The coverage limits on your policy are the maximum amount of money your insurance company is obligated to pay to the other person on your behalf. However, higher limits can be purchased for more protection.
Uninsured & Underinsured Motorist
Insurance companies are required to provide Uninsured Motorist (UM) Bodily Injury coverage & Underinsured Motorist (UIM) Bodily Injury coverage, unless a named insured has rejected the coverages in writing.
The coverage limits for UM/UIM Bodily Injury coverage generally will match the coverage limits you chose for your Bodily Injury Liability coverage limits; however, this may differ between insurance carriers.
Insurance companies are required to provide to the named insured a disclosure via the Idaho Uninsured Motorist and Underinsured Motorist Disclosure Form, which explains the UM/UIM Bodily Injury coverages, provides the option to reject either or both coverages, and explains the difference between the two (2) types of Underinsured Motorist Bodily Injury coverage.
- Excess – If your insurance carrier offers “excess” UIM coverage limits, your UIM coverage limits provide coverage for medical injuries sustained by you and/or your passengers above and beyond what is paid by another party’s insurance.
- Difference in Limits or Offset – If your insurance carrier offers “difference in limits” or “offset” UIM coverage limits, your UIM coverage limits provide coverage for medical injuries sustained by you and/or your passengers are reduced or eliminated by any amounts recovered from another party’s insurance.
Example: If you have $25,000 in UIM coverage and the at-fault party has $25,000 in Bodily Injury Liability coverage, your UIM coverage does not provide additional coverage above the at-fault motorist’s coverage because they have the same limit.
Conversely, if you have $100,000 in UIM coverage and the at-fault party has $25,000 in Bodily Injury Liability coverage, your UIM coverage covers any deficiency in the at-fault motorist’s Bodily Injury coverage, as if the at-fault motorist had Bodily Injury coverage at your UIM limit.
In other words, if the cost for your medical injuries exceeded the at-fault motorist’s $25,000 limit, you would have up to your $100,000 limit (an additional $75,000) available to cover the cost of your medical bills related to the accident.