The Tort system is followed in the state of Washington. Here, usually it is the driver at fault and is responsible for causing the accident. This person, as well as the insurance company is considered jointly responsible for all damages caused to property. However, one must be aware that the Tort system as such varies between states.
The different liabilities in Washington:
The state of Washington only requires liability insurance, which means insurance that covers bodily injury as well as damage to property caused to others in the event of an accident. Hence, one is required to carry liability coverage of at least these 3 covers in order to be able to drive within the state of Washington.
The 25/50/10 cover:
The Washington state law has a ‘minimum bodily injury’ liability limit, which is $25,000 per person (injured), and up to a total of approximately $50,000 for each accident, as well as damage to property. The liability cover is a minimum of $10,000. This basic cover is also referred to as 25/50/10 cover.
Although Washington does not require its drivers to shop for the best auto insurance rates, this cover is still quite valuable. Under this cover, one could get injury coverage (uninsured/ underinsured), motorist bodily injury coverage, for an injury that might be caused by (uninsured/ underinsured) driver, but this depends on the state.
However, most of the residents of Washington carry additional liability cover to further protect themselves and the losses one might incur by way of additional expenses in the event of an accident.
Some of these additional liability covers are listed below:
- Personal Injury Protection or (PIP) – this is a cover that pays for some of the medical expenses, loss in wages and the resulting loss in child care costs etc. All this is done irrespective of who was at fault.
- Collision – this cover takes care of the damage that might be caused due to a collision with another vehicle.
- Medical Payments Coverage – this is a cover that takes care of the not just the medical expenses but also the funeral expenses in case of a fatal incident and thereby eases at least some of the financial burden on the victim’s families.
- Comprehensive – almost all aspects are covered under this except for collision.
- Underinsured/uninsured motorist – this covers not just personal injury but also damage to property in the event of an accident irrespective of whether it was caused by an uninsured or underinsured motorist.
