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What 25/50/25 means: split liability limits explained
How to read split liability limits like 25/50/25 or 100/300/100, with worked examples showing what each number pays and when you pay the rest.
25/50/25 is shorthand for the three caps on your liability coverage: up to $25,000 for injuries to any one person, up to $50,000 for all injuries in one accident, and up to $25,000 for damage to other people's property. The numbers are in thousands of dollars, and they are maximums the insurer will pay on your behalf, not amounts you receive. Anything above them can become your personal debt.
The three numbers, one at a time
Split limits divide liability coverage into separate buckets, each with its own ceiling.
- Bodily injury per person (the first number). The most your insurer will pay for any single person you injure or kill, covering things like their medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering. With 25/50/25, that is $25,000.
- Bodily injury per accident (the second number). The most your insurer will pay for all injured people combined in one crash. With 25/50/25, that is $50,000. No individual can get more than the per-person limit, even if the per-accident total has room left.
- Property damage per accident (the third number). The most your insurer will pay for property you damage: the other car, a fence, a light pole, a storefront. With 25/50/25, that is $25,000.
The first two numbers make up your bodily injury liability coverage and the third is your property damage liability coverage. None of them pays for your own car or your own injuries; that is the job of collision, PIP, MedPay or uninsured motorist coverage.
Worked examples
These examples are hypothetical. They assume a 25/50/25 policy and that you are found fully at fault.
One injured driver. You rear-end a car, and the other driver's medical bills and lost wages total $32,000. Repairs to their car cost $9,000. Your insurer pays $25,000 for the injury (the per-person cap) and $9,000 for the car. The remaining $7,000 of injury damages can be claimed from you.
Three injured people. You cause a crash that injures a driver and two passengers. Their claims settle at $30,000, $15,000 and $12,000, a total of $57,000. The first claim is capped at $25,000. The other two are paid in full ($15,000 and $12,000). That adds up to $52,000, but the per-accident cap is $50,000, so your insurer pays $50,000 in total and $7,000 is left over.
An expensive car. You sideswipe a new pickup and the repair estimate, including sensor calibration, is $31,000. Your property damage limit pays $25,000. You owe the other $6,000.
The pattern: per-person limits run out when one person is badly hurt, per-accident limits run out when several people are hurt, and property limits run out when the car you hit is new or expensive. You can run your own numbers through the liability limits decoder.
Other common combinations
| Written as | Per person | Per accident | Property damage | Where you see it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15/30/5 | $15,000 | $30,000 | $5,000 | Pennsylvania's minimum |
| 25/50/25 | $25,000 | $50,000 | $25,000 | Minimum in many states, including Georgia, Ohio and Oklahoma |
| 30/60/15 | $30,000 | $60,000 | $15,000 | California's minimum since January 1, 2025 |
| 50/100/50 | $50,000 | $100,000 | $50,000 | North Carolina's minimum since July 1, 2025 |
| 100/300/100 | $100,000 | $300,000 | $100,000 | A common higher-limit choice |
| 250/500/100 | $250,000 | $500,000 | $100,000 | A level often paired with an umbrella policy |
Michigan uses 250/500 as its default bodily injury limits but lets drivers choose as little as 50/100 in writing. New York adds a separate 50/100 limit for death claims on top of its 25/50/10 minimum. Every state's current figure is in minimum car insurance requirements by state.
How limits appear on your policy
Your declarations page may show limits in any of these styles:
- "25/50/25" or "$25K/$50K/$25K": split limits.
- "BI $25,000 each person / $50,000 each accident; PD $25,000 each accident": the same split limits spelled out.
- "$300,000 CSL" or "$300,000 each accident" with no per-person figure: a combined single limit, one pool shared by injuries and property damage. See combined single limit vs split limits.
Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage usually appears with its own split limits, often matching your liability limits. That coverage pays you, not the other driver.
What the numbers do not tell you
- Defense costs. A standard personal auto policy generally pays your legal defense in addition to the limits, but once the insurer pays out the limit, its duty to defend usually ends. Check your policy wording.
- Who is covered. The limits apply to you, household drivers and usually people you let borrow the car, but they are shared: two people driving your car do not double the limits.
- Whether the limit is enough. Courts and settlements are not bound by your limits. If damages exceed them, the injured person can pursue your savings, property and, in many states, part of your wages.
Choosing limits
Start with the state minimum as a floor, not a target. Then ask what you would stand to lose if a serious crash produced a claim well above it. Quotes at two or three levels, such as the minimum, 100/300/100 and 250/500/100, show how much each step costs. Raising limits often costs less than drivers expect, because the first dollars of coverage carry most of the risk. For a step-by-step method, see how much liability coverage do you need? or try the How much car insurance do I need?.
Key takeaways
- In 25/50/25, the numbers are thousands of dollars: $25,000 per injured person, $50,000 per accident for injuries, $25,000 for property damage.
- No one injured person can collect more than the first number, even when the per-accident limit is not used up.
- These limits pay other people when you are at fault; they do not cover your car or your injuries.
- Minimums vary from 15/30/5 to 50/100/50, and several states raised theirs in 2025 and 2026.
- Damages above your limits can be collected from you, which is why many drivers buy 100/300/100 or more.