Missouri auto · Minimums versus a real crash
What Missouri auto insurance is actually made of
Missouri requires liability insurance and uninsured-motorist bodily-injury coverage so you can drive legally. Those floors are not sized to a hospital bill or to your car. “Full coverage” is still just a phrase for liability plus collision and comprehensive. Confirm the current dollar minimums with the state and with your declarations, because the numbers can change.
Start here: Missouri auto, how much you may need, and liability minimums by state.
What the three liability numbers mean
Split limits are written as three figures. The first is the most the policy pays for one person’s injuries. The second is the most it pays for everyone’s injuries in one accident. The third is the most it pays for other people’s property. Consumer guidance has long described Missouri’s floor around 25/50/25, plus uninsured-motorist bodily injury at a similar 25/50. Treat that as a figure to verify, not as a promise that this year’s statute still reads that way. If the first number is $25,000 and one person’s medical bills are $80,000, the policy stops at its limit. You can still be sued for the rest.
Uninsured motorist coverage pays you, up to its limit, when the at-fault driver has no liability insurance. Underinsured motorist coverage is the version for when they have insurance but not enough. Missouri’s required piece has been the uninsured-motorist bodily-injury coverage. Do not assume underinsured motorist, collision, or comprehensive came along because you met the legal minimum. Liability-only, priced as cheaply as possible: cheap liability. It is legal. It does not fix your car.
Collision, comprehensive, and gap
Collision pays crash damage to your car, minus the deductible, whether or not you were at fault. Comprehensive pays hail, theft, flood, fire, and animal strikes, minus its own deductible. A lender usually requires both. Neither pays the loan balance if you owe more than the car is worth. That difference is gap coverage. Gap insurance. Keep proof of insurance in the vehicle. A lapse is its own underwriting problem the next time you quote.
Discounts exist only where that carrier’s rating plan has them. Missouri discounts. Kansas City shopping, still without a fake percent: Kansas City auto.
