Bodily injury typically means some type of liability insurance coverage designed to protect you in case you end up injuring someone in an accident. On the other hand, personal injury claims are civil action lawsuits that are filed against a party that caused damage to you.
Both bodily injury vs. personal injury is used in the context of motor insurance, which can be confusing. Even though both phrases could be used synonymously, they actually relate to two separate kinds of insurance coverage. The purpose of bodily injury liability insurance is to reimburse victims for the harm they suffered in an accident for which they bore no responsibility.
It’s important to understand the distinction if you’ve been in a car accident. In this article, we are going to discuss the fundamental differences between what bodily injury means and what personal injury means, legally.
Whenever in doubt, it’s best to consult a personal injury and criminal defense lawyer. A proficient attorney can help make the distinction clear and determine which one is in your case bodily injury vs. personal injury.
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Bodily Injury vs. Personal Injury: Things You Need to Know
Before we get into the difference between bodily injury vs. personal injury, let’s discuss their definitions.
What Is Bodily Injury?
The word “bodily injury” is used in many commercial liability insurances, including the majority of commercial vehicles, general liability, and commercial umbrella policies. The common Commercial General Liability (CGL) policy from the Insurance Services Office (ISO) defines bodily harm in the same way in many policies.
The ISO is an advisory group that creates policy templates used frequently by insurance firms.
Bodily injury, sickness, or disease is defined as “bodily injury, sickness, or disease incurred by a person, including death resulting from any of these at any moment” by the ISO CGL.
Physical injury is just one type of bodily harm: there are other illnesses and diseases. Additionally, it involves demise brought on by illness, disease, or bodily harm. Typically, an undetermined cause of death disqualifies a claim under CGL coverage.
If you own a business, the possibility of bodily injury coverage exists in case a client is hurt while on your property. There is no certainty that this coverage will keep a consumer from filing a lawsuit against you. If you get injuries in a car accident, you may also need to use bodily injury coverage.
You might be able to make a claim for medical treatment through the insurance of the driver who caused the accident rather than bringing another driver to justice.
Finding sports injury attorneys near me can be difficult. Limit your search to experienced attorneys.
What Is Personal Injury?
Personal injury claims are made on behalf of people who have been harmed or distressed in some way as a result of the actions or inactions of others. Either physical harm or psychological harm can be the subject of a lawsuit, but physical harm is more clearly tied to the idea of injury and is therefore easier to prove.
As a result, they account for a bigger portion of successfully filed lawsuits. Torts involving bodily injury can refer to either intentional assault, in which the defendant acts with the aim of harming the plaintiff, or carelessness, in which the defendant breached a duty to ensure the physical safety of others.
A separate criminal prosecution of the same incident may take place concurrently with or in connection with a lawsuit alleging an intentional assault. For instance, you may make a personal injury claim if you were hurt in a car accident involving a drunk driver or if you slipped and fell while at a friend’s house or a store.
If a nursing home has damaged you because of a defective product or has mistreated or neglected a loved one, you may also be able to file a personal injury lawsuit against the facility.
What Are the Differences Between Bodily Injury vs. Personal Injury?
Let’s talk about the difference between bodily injury vs. personal injury.
Before we delve too far into the subject, we should highlight the obvious distinction – the context in which you will hear the terms.
Both bodily injury vs. personal injury will be employed in the legal community, for sure, but perhaps not in the same court. Both are employed in the realm of auto insurance, but when it comes to legal disputes and court cases, personal injury claims are more frequently seen in civil cases and physical injury claims are more frequently associated with criminal cases.
Bodily injury includes:
- Medical expenses
- Health-related costs like hospital stays and surgery
- Cost of rehabilitation
- The cost of a funeral
- Legal costs
Personal injury protection (PIP) insurance coverage, on the other hand, covers costs and other damages incurred by the insured. No matter who was at blame for the collision, PIP coverage applies because it is reimbursed by the insurance company regardless of who is at fault for the accident, it is commonly referred to as “no-fault” insurance.
A bodily injury insurance coverage is mandated by law in the majority of jurisdictions. However, PIP is not. The financial load on accident victims and their families might be lessened with the aid of this kind of insurance. Additionally, it might aid in ensuring that they receive the required medical care.
Establishing an attorney-client relationship with accident lawyers may shield you from having to pay for the emotional harm, non-economic damages, and medical expenses caused by someone else’s negligence and covered by the other party’s insurance. All insurance claims have legal components. So, this was all about bodily injury vs. personal injury.
