Here in Oklahoma, the mandatory minimum liability limits for auto insurance are $25,000 bodily injury per person, $50,000 bodily injury per occurrence, and $25,000 property damage per occurrence.

Think about those numbers.  Then think about skyrocketing health care costs.  If you cause an accident that results in a serious injury to a third party--an injury requiring extended hospital stay and lengthy physical rehab--and you only carry the state minimum of $25,000 per person, your insurance company is going to cut a $25,000 check to the injured party. . .and walk away.  Who is responsible for all those costs above $25,000?  You are!  Think about all your assets: your home, your car, your jewelry and other valuable possessions--not to mention wage garnishment--that could be taken from you in order to pay the other person's medical bills.  Not a good situation to be in!

That is why we ALWAYS recommend carrying the highest liability limits you can afford.  For a business, we always recommend carrying up to $1 million per occurrence; depending on the nature of the business, we may also recommend an Umbrella policy to extend over the auto policy, in the event costs exceed $1 million as a result of the accident.  For a personal auto policy, we'll recommend a six-figure liability limit, often up to $500,000 per occurrence.  If the auto owner also owns his or her own business, we'll even recommend a Personal Umbrella policy to extend over the personal auto policy.  The last thing a business owner wants is to have the costs from a serious personal auto accident eat into the assets of his or her business!

Unfortunately, we live in a lawsuit-driven culture, with legal and medical expenses going up and up and up.  If you own a car, you possess an object that can cause an accident resulting in catastrophic injury and property damage. Protect yourself!  Carry the highest liability limits you can afford.