GEICO’s bodily injury liability coverage pays for injuries you cause to other people in an at-fault accident: their medical bills, lost income and related costs, up to the per-person and per-accident limits you bought. It doesn’t pay for your own injuries. That gap is filled by a separate coverage, Medical Payments (MedPay) or Personal Injury Protection (PIP), depending on your state.
Bodily injury liability has two limits, a per-person cap and a per-accident cap. They’re usually shown as the first two numbers in a set like “25/50/10,” where the third number is property damage liability. Your state sets a legal minimum you must carry, and you can usually buy more.
Key Takeaways
- Bodily injury liability pays other people’s costs when you’re at fault. It never pays for your own injuries, no matter how high your limits are.
- Bodily injury limits are the first two numbers in a set like 25/50/10: a per-person cap and a higher per-accident cap for the same crash.
- Your own injuries need MedPay or Personal Injury Protection, a different coverage GEICO sells separately from bodily injury liability.
- State minimums are a legal floor, not a target. Texas, for example, requires just 30/60/25; higher limits cost more but leave less of a gap if you cause a serious crash.
What Bodily Injury Liability Pays For
GEICO’s liability coverage page lists medical bills, prescriptions, lost wages, pain and suffering, and legal fees if you’re sued over the injuries. It pays out when you’re found at fault for hurting someone else, not for damage to their car (that’s a separate coverage, property damage liability).
“Other people” can mean the other driver, their passengers, or a pedestrian or cyclist you hit. GEICO’s page is direct about the limit: bodily injury liability “doesn’t cover damage to your property or your injuries.”
How the Split Limits Work
GEICO’s own example for split limits is “25/50/10”: $25,000 per person hurt, up to $50,000 total per accident, plus $10,000 for property damage. The per-person number caps what any single injured person can collect; the per-accident number caps the combined bodily injury payout if more than one person is hurt.
| Limits Shown As | Per-Person Cap | Per-Accident Cap |
|---|---|---|
| 25/50/10 (GEICO’s own example) | $25,000 | $50,000 |
| 30/60/25 (Texas’s minimum) | $30,000 | $60,000 |
| 100/300/100 (a higher limit) | $100,000 | $300,000 |
Hypothetical example: Say you’re at fault in a crash that injures two people, one with $40,000 in bills and one with $20,000, for $60,000 combined. With 25/50/10 limits, the per-person cap holds the larger claim to $25,000 and the smaller one is paid in full at $20,000, for $45,000 total. That leaves $15,000 of the larger claim unpaid, which you could owe directly. With 100/300 limits, the full $60,000 would be covered. These numbers are only an illustration, not a GEICO quote or a typical claim.
What It Doesn’t Cover: Your Own Injuries
Bodily injury liability never pays the policyholder’s own medical bills, regardless of the limits chosen. Two separate GEICO coverages fill that gap. Medical Payments (MedPay) pays medical bills for you and your passengers regardless of fault, and GEICO says it’s “offered in states without no-fault laws.” Personal Injury Protection (PIP) does a similar job in no-fault states and can also cover lost wages and related costs.
Michigan is one of the states where GEICO offers PIP, and Michigan’s no-fault system layers in rules well beyond a typical state. See how GEICO handles Michigan’s no-fault and PIP choice system if that’s your state.
State Minimums Vary, So Check Yours
Your state, not GEICO, sets the legal minimum bodily injury liability you must carry, and the number varies widely. As one example, Texas requires 30/60/25, well above GEICO’s 25/50/10 illustration. Your own state’s insurance department or DMV publishes the current requirement; don’t assume another state’s minimum applies to you.
Choosing Limits Above the Minimum
A minimum policy is the cheapest legal option, not necessarily the right one. If a crash costs more than your limits, you can be personally responsible for the rest, which is why many drivers weigh their savings and other assets against the cost of higher limits. Bodily injury liability is also the liability piece of what’s often called GEICO full coverage, shorthand for liability plus collision and comprehensive, not a standardized policy.
- Ask for a quote at more than one limit. Compare 25/50/10 against 100/300 or higher to see the real cost difference for your car and driving record.
- Check your state’s minimum yourself. Your state’s insurance department or DMV, not an old article, has the current figure.
- Ask whether MedPay or PIP is available or required in your state. GEICO doesn’t sell both everywhere.
- Review your declarations page. It shows your current bodily injury limits; the full policy explains exactly what’s covered and excluded.
If you’re weighing higher limits or shopping around, you can compare car insurance quotes with matching liability limits so you’re pricing the same protection across insurers.
See also our guide to the difference between minimum and full coverage for how bodily injury limits fit into the bigger picture of your policy.