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#CAR INSURANCE Property Damage Liability

Property damage liability is part of standard car insurance. Much like uninsured motorist coverage and bodily injury liability. It covers damage you cause to another car, their valuables, or property. In some states, it could also cover damage that someone else who is driving your car — with your permission — causes. Almost every state in the U.S. makes it mandatory to have property damage coverage. The only two states that don’t require car insurance are New Hampshire and Virginia.


Property damage liability is the often-overlooked part of your car insurance that pays for damage to other people’s property from an accident you’re responsible for. Most often, it’s paying to repair other person’s vehicle, but it could also pay for damage to a garage door, a mailbox, a bicycle, a fence… or all of the above, if you really go on a rampage.

car auto insurance property damage liability cost


How much does property damage liability car insurance coverage cost? Typical liability limits for property damage coverage range from $5,000 to $100,000, and are based in part on what options auto insurance companies offer to their prospective policyholders. With higher coverage limits, you can expect to have higher premiums.


Property damage liability coverage is required by law in most states. It typically helps cover the cost of repairs if you are at fault for a car accident that damages another vehicle or property such as a fence or building front. Property damage liability coverage usually does not cover damage to your own vehicle. Property damage liability insurance covers the cost of damages to someone else's property after an accident you cause. Most commonly, your property damage will pay out when you are at fault for an accident that causes damage to someone else's car.


But what is property damage liability car insurance, and how does it work? Property damage liability can help cover the costs of repairing the other driver’s car if you’re at fault in an accident. It can also help you cover repairs of the other property you happen to damage, such as a fence that you accidentally drive into. Property damage liability is a type of coverage included in a car insurance policy. Property damage liability coverage protects policyholders from damage they cause to another person’s property (typically the other driver’s vehicle.


Property damage liability coverage helps pay for damage to someone else’s car or other property due to an accident you caused, up to the policy’s limits. It will also cover damage you may cause to structures and stationary objects, including houses, stores, offices, trees, fences, guardrails, lamp posts, telephone poles, and more.


In an auto insurance policy, the property damage liability coverage is the amount of money your insurance company will pay to repair the other person’s car or other damaged property, when you are at fault in an auto accident. While property damage liability car insurance pays for damage to someone else's vehicle or property following an accident, collision coverage pays for damage to your own vehicle or property. That can include damages caused by a collision with another vehicle or hitting a stationary object, such as a tree or fence.


As mentioned, “property damage liability coverage” is part of compulsory, or mandatory, liability insurance coverage. Each State Department of Insurance sets their own minimum car insurance requirement. So at the bare minimum, you need to purchase at least your state’s minimum coverage limits to remain legal.


If you cause an accident, your car insurance has two types of liability coverage that can help protect you: Property damage liability insurance to help pay for repairs if you hit another person’s car. Bodily injury liability insurance to help cover medical costs if you hurt someone in an automobile accident. Property damage: In the event of an at-fault accident, liability insurance could help cover the cost of the damages caused to another person’s personal property from the accident. Personal property can include both their home and their car.


What is Property Damage Liability in Car Insurance? When you are found to be at fault for a car accident, property damage liability covers the cost of repairing or replacing the other car(s) involved. It may also apply to other types of damaged property. For example, if one of the cars involved ran off the road as a result of the accident and hit the fence surrounding someone's backyard, this would likely be covered by property damage liability insurance.


Property damage liability may also pay for attorney and legal defense fees if a claim is filed against you with regards to retribution for the property damage. Some insurance companies will even pay out lost income if a business was forced to close due to the accident. This property damage liability does not cover damages to your own vehicle.


With liability insurance you’ll get coverage for bodily injury liability coverage per person, bodily injury liability coverage per accident and property damage liability coverage. For example, in California, the minimum bodily injury liability coverage is $15,000 per person and $30,000 per accident and the minimum property damage liability.