Personal liability and property damage auto insurance – which is also more commonly known as PLPD – describes the minimum amount of car insurance that a vehicle owner must have in order to comply with the auto insurance requirements of the state in which he or she is a resident and where the vehicle is registered.

It is important to remember that personal liability property damage coverage is not the same thing as full coverage. The former meets the minimum requirements of the law, ensuring that a vehicle has the mandatory coverages. The latter includes all of the coverages required by personal liability property damage as well as additional but optional coverages such uninsured motorist and underinsured motorist coverage and collision coverage.

What does personal liability and property damage auto insurance cover?

In Michigan, the main protections that personal liability and property damage auto insurance covers include: (1) paying for your medical bills after you have been injured in a crash; (2) reimbursing you for lost wages that you could not earn because your crash-related injuries disabled you from returning to work; and (3) helping you pay for the pain and suffering compensation and economic damages that you may liable for if you caused a crash that resulted in someone else being injured.

How does personal liability and property damage insurance pay for medical bills and lost wages?

A person’s crash-related medical bills are paid for through Michigan No-Fault PIP auto insurance up to the medical benefits coverage level selected in the policy through which they are claiming benefits.

Lost wages are also paid through No-Fault PIP and they are generally payable for up to three from the date of a crash, but they are subject to a monthly maximum.

What is the minimum amount of liability coverage that is required?The minimum amount of bodily injury liability coverage that a vehicle owner must have in order to satisfy Michigan’s personal liability insurance requirement is $250,000/$500,000. However, the law does permit drivers to purchase a lower minimum limit of $50,000/$100,000.

What property damage is covered?

There are two types of property damage that are covered by Michigan’s personal liability and property damage insurance requirements.

First, a person must carry “property protection insurance” – which is also known as PPI - which pays up to $1 million for damage caused to another person’s tangible property, such as buildings, fences, trees and safety parked cars.

Second, a person must carry at least $10,000 in coverage that applies when the person is at-fault in causing an out-of-state crash that results in damage to another person’s vehicle.

How do you go from personal liability and property damage coverage to full coverage?

To put it simply, you get full coverage auto insurance by purchasing the optional coverages that are not required to be purchased as part of a personal liability and property damage policy.

Specifically, to get full coverage, you also purchase the following:

• Higher medical benefits coverage levels, such as unlimited or $500,000.
• Liability limits that exceed the legal minimum.
• Collision coverage, which protects you if your vehicle is damaged in a crash.
• Comprehensive coverage, which protects you if your vehicle is stolen, destroyed by a fire or damaged by a storm or by an animal.
• Uninsured motorist coverage, which protects your right and ability to recover pain and suffering compensation that you are legally entitled to if you are injured in a crash caused by an uninsured at-fault driver or a hit-and-run drive.
• Underinsured motorist coverage, which protects your right and ability to recover pain and suffering compensation that you are legally entitled to if you are injured in a crash caused by an at-fault driver who has inadequate liability insurance coverage