Get car insurance quotes online instantly to save!

Auto Insurance Articles

How much Auto Insurance Should You Have if You Drive in Philadelphia?

By: Kade Phillips, contributing writer at kanetix.com.

Although almost every state demands that you have auto liability insurance if you wish to drive an automobile, even those that don’t, have financial responsibility laws. (All states do.) The bottom line is that you must have sufficient assets or sufficient insurance to cover the claims that could arise if you cause an auto accident.

The law in Philadelphia states that you must have the following minimum auto insurance:

Medical Benefits Insurance – Takes care of medical bills for you and/or others covered on your policy regardless of fault.  The minimum is $5,000 of coverage.  

Bodily Injury Liability Insurance - If you injure someone in a car accident, this coverage pays their medical and rehabilitation expenses and any damages for which you are found liable.  You must buy coverage of at least $15,000/$30,000.  The $15,000 pays for injuries to one person while the $30,000 represents the total available for one accident.

Property Damage Liability Insurance - Pays for damage to someone's property in the event of an accident in which you are at fault.  At least $5,000 of coverage is required.  Some insurance companies offer a single limit of $35,000 which meets the bodily injury liability and property damage liability minimum requirements.

These are the absolute minimums that you must have to legally drive a vehicle in Philadelphia. But while having the absolute minimum auto insurance may save you some money in the short term, it may in the longer term, be short sighted in the extreme.

Obviously, if you simply cannot afford more, then your hands are tied. But, if you own your own home, a business, or other assets such as stocks and bonds, and you wish to ensure their protection in the event of a worst case scenario, then you absolutely must have significantly more auto insurance than the minimum state requirements. You could loose everything you have worked so hard to build through one unfortunate and unlucky event. Don’t leave your future to chance.

According to the Insurance Information Institute (www.iii.org), “it is recommended that you have $100,000 of bodily injury protection per person and $300,000 per accident.

If your net worth is more than $300,000, consider buying additional liability insurance. You may also consider purchasing an umbrella or excess liability policy. These policies pay when your underlying coverages are exhausted. Typically, these policies cost between $200 and $300 per year for a million dollars in coverage.”

Depending on your circumstances, it might be wise to increase the coverage of your Medical Benefits Coverage and your Property Damage Liability insurance by a similar percentage as well.

If you know that you could afford a few extra dollars a month in premium payments, but would not be able to come up with the cash to repair or replace a vehicle that is badly damaged, seriously consider adding collision and comprehensive coverage as well.  You can adjust the deductible according to your needs and financial circumstances.

For even more protection, consider Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist, Bodily Injury insurance and Uninsured Motorist Property Damage insurance also.  These types of insurance take care of the other party's legal liability to you for bodily injury and property damage arising from damage and/or injury from an uninsured/underinsured driver/vehicle.

While Philadelphia does not mandate all of these kinds of car insurance, you would be wise to consider each one and the ramifications that insufficient auto insurance in one category or another could cause you, your family and your lifestyle.

Also, considering how competitive auto insurance is in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, don’t settle for the first set of car insurance quotes that you get, make sure that you comparison shop. You could be quite surprised at the difference in prices between auto insurance providers.


Kade Phillips is a contributing writer at kanetix.com,
Serving Philadelphia car insurance quotes / Auto insurance quotes Philadelphia.
For the Car Insurance Philadelphia Needs, visit kanetix for Free Quotes


Disclaimer - The above description/explanation is intended as a guideline only, and is not to be interpreted as a recommendation to buy or sell any insurance products, or to provide legal or financial advice of any kind. Also, Kanetix Ltd. does not warrant or assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed.

Our articles cannot be reproduced or republished in any way or form without written consent from Kanetix Ltd. - Click here to ask for permission. You may use our RSS feed with an active link to our site. Click here to get our RSS feed.

© 2006 Kanetix Ltd. All rights reserved.