What is Personal Liability Insurance Coverage? (August 2025)

Personal liability coverage will cover the costs of the lawsuit if you get sued for injuring someone or destroying someone's property. Personal liability insurance is included in most home insurance policies, renters, and condo policies. You can also buy it separately.

It protects you from having to pay a huge amount out of your pocket if you are found legally responsible for something bad that happens to another person. Filing a personal liability claim is comparable to filing any other insurance claim.

How does personal liability coverage work?

The personal liability coverage in a standard home insurance policy protects you against bodily injury and property damage caused by you or the people of your house.

• Bodily injury: Suppose someone gets injured on your property. Then the injured person can sue you for expenses like medical bills, missed wages, and emotional distress. If you don't have personal liability insurance, you'll have to pay the expenses out of pocket.
• Property damage: It happens when something on your property causes damage to your neighbor's house, such as a tree falling on the home's roof during a storm. Your neighbor may file a lawsuit against you to collect financial compensation for the damage to their roof. Again, you would have to pay for the damage from your pocket without personal liability coverage.

Examples of personal liability coverage

Here's one instance where personal liability insurance covers you. During a summer pool party, your deck becomes slippery, and a guest trips and falls. She gets a fracture or multiple fractures and sues you for medical bills, pain, and suffering. Your personal liability insurance will cover your legal defense and pay up to the policy amount if the court finds you responsible for the injury.

Medical payments coverage, another coverage in your homeowners insurance policy, can be helpful if someone gets injured on your property. It is a 'no-fault' policy with lower limits which pay for minor incidents when no lawsuits are involved. However, if someone sues you and a judge finds you liable, the personal liability coverage will protect you.

What does personal liability insurance cover?

Personal liability insurance only covers the damage you cause to other people or their property. Homeowners and renters must understand what personal liability insurance covers up to the policy limitations. The following are some instances where your personal liability coverage would most likely protect you.

• Medical bills of guests: The insurance covers medical payments of the guests injured on your property. It can include injuries caused by your carelessness, such as failing to address a known trip danger on a stairway, a bite from your dog, or while using your pool or trampoline.
• Pain and suffering: Lawsuits resulting from injuries in your home can drain your wallet. But personal liability coverage can help you pay the cost of a settlement if you are held legally responsible.
• Lost wages: The insurance will cover the expense of the injured party until they return to work.
• Death benefits: it covers the cost of a funeral or burial if a guest suffers a fatal injury on your property.
• Legal costs: The coverage pays your cost for legal proceedings, irrespective of whether you're found liable or not.
• Damage to your guests' possessions: The insurance will cover you if your dog damages your guest's expensive fur coat or a dead tree in your yard falls on your neighbor's house.
• Injury caused away from your property: Imagine your dog escapes and bites a neighbor down the street, or you're out rollerblading and accidentally injure a spectator. Then personal liability insurance may cover the injured party's medical fees if you're found to be at fault.

What is not covered by personal liability insurance?

Personal liability coverage does not offer protection for incidents in which you can't prove negligence and the following.

• Car accidents: Home insurance doesn't cover the injuries and property damage caused by you while driving. The liability section of your auto insurance policy covers it.
• Injuries to you or family members: These get covered by your health insurance rather than the personal liability coverage in your homeowners insurance policy.
• Business claims: These include incidents related to your business, property damage caused by your business activities, malpractice lawsuits, and workers' compensation. Instead, these get covered by your business insurance policy.
• Injuries resulting from 'dangerous' dog breeds: Many home insurers will deny coverage for injuries caused by a dog breed that they consider 'dangerous.'
• Intentional injuries or damage: This includes when you or a member of your household intentionally injure a guest or damages their property, including self-defense.

How much personal liability coverage should you have?

Most standard home insurance policies have personal liability coverage ranging from $100,000-$500,000. It may be difficult to imagine exhausting your home insurance coverage limit. Still, the costs can surge if someone gets injured. Your liability insurance also protects you financially in other ways. For instance, if your child accidentally burns down someone else's house, you could face substantial property damage and injury claims. In this case, a lawsuit might wipe away your net worth, including your savings, home equity, and valuables.

For example, if your net worth is $600,000 and you get sued for $400,000 in damages but only have $100,000 in coverage. So the petitioner can seize your assets to cover the remaining $300,000 in damages. Petitioners are more likely to pursue you if you have a big net worth since you can easily payout a judgment.

So, always consider your situation and speak with an expert insurance agent to understand what liability coverage may be ideal for your needs. Depending on the assets you wish to protect, it may be worthwhile to consider purchasing excess liability insurance or umbrella insurance.

Home insurance personal liability: How much does it cost?

Ideally, personal liability insurance costs $8-$10 per year for coverage of $100,000. Standard home insurance providers typically provide coverage ranging from $100,000-$500,000; however, some have personal liability limits as high as $1 million. The following is the annual cost of a home insurance policy with $100,000, $300,000, and $500,000 in personal liability coverage for some major insurers.

What is a personal umbrella policy?

A personal umbrella policy, also known as umbrella insurance, is a type of liability coverage you can add to your home insurance. When the personal liability coverage of a home insurance policy gets during a claim, your umbrella policy kicks in to cover the remaining costs. You can get umbrella insurance in $1 million increments, with maximum coverage of $5 or $10 million by some insurers. Personal umbrella policies usually cost around $300 per year. If you have more than $500,000 combined assets, umbrella insurance may be well worth it.

Summary

Personal liability coverage is a part of home insurance, condo, and renters insurance policies. It is vital to have this policy as it covers the cost of a lawsuit when someone gets injured on your property or damages someone else's property. Personal liability insurance will help you cover the costs and avoid draining your wallet!

How to file a home insurance claim for personal liability with Way.com

The majority of home insurance policies offer personal liability coverage. But in the case of a loss, you must possess one to file a claim. How can you get a cheap homeowners insurance policy? That's where we can help you.

You must use our website or app to get quotes from all the insurers. Then you must compare all the quotes and buy the one with the most affordable quote. Do you require help in filing a claim? It's simple to do on our website. Otherwise, our local insurance agents can assist you. They will assist you in making you understand the most complex home insurance terms, rules, discounts, and coverages. They will also help you file the claim without hassle!