What is Mississippi Auto Liability Insurance and why do I have to buy it?  Also, how much auto liability insurance am I required to purchase?

In a nutshell, liability insurance is the type of coverage that provides you funds to pay for injuries or property damages that you cause to others.

For instance, if you run a red light and cause an accident, you would be legally responsible for paying for the injuries sustained by others and well as for the damage to their property.

What if I don’t have auto liability insurance?

If you don’t have liability insurance, you would have to pay for all of these damages out of your own pocket and that could perhaps cause you to lose everything you know own or may own in the future.

Not only that, but you would probably be sued by the injured parties and you would then be required to hire an attorney to defend you.  Defense costs can add up quickly but the good news is, if you have auto liability insurance, the cost of defense is included in the coverage.

How much auto liability insurance coverage do I need in Mississippi?

The amount of auto liability insurance required to be carried varies from state to state.  In Mississippi, our state law as of this year (2015) requires that each automobile must have at least the minimum limits of $ 25,000 for each person, $ 50,000 for injuries per accident and $ 25,000 for property damage.

So if you were to be at-fault in an accident for instance in which you cause injuries to passengers in another vehicle as well as damage to the vehicle, this is how those limits work.

The most of your insurance company would pay for injuries to any one person would be $ 25,000; the most they would pay for all injuries in the accident would be $ 50,000 and the most they would pay for damage to the other vehicle is $ 25,000.  Remember these are the “minimum limits” required.

It would be very prudent to purchase higher limits than this.

It’s very likely that you could easily cause more than $ 25,000 damage to the property of others.  For instance, what if you should total out a new BMW?  If the BMW was valued at $ 65,000, your policy would pay the $ 25,000 and you would then have to make up the difference……not good!!!

Or, what if you injured a physician who because of their injuries couldn’t work for 6 months.  Your policy would pay the per person limit of $ 25,000 but their medical bills and lost earnings could be over $ 100,000……not good again!!!

Since you don’t know how much damage you’ll do or how many or how serious the injuries may be, it’s a great idea to buy much higher limits than these minimums.  Plan for the worst and hope and pray it never happens.

Good luck and let us know if we can be of service in helping you find the best auto insurance in Mississippi, at the best possible price!