Why state minimums are never a good idea
Minnesota's required liability limits are 30/60/10 — $30,000 of bodily injury per person, $60,000 per accident, and just $10,000 of property damage. Those numbers exist to keep you legal, not to keep you safe. They were set decades ago and have not kept up with the cost of a single ER visit, let alone a serious crash.
When your liability limit runs out, you pay the rest. The injured party's attorney can come after your wages, your savings, and the equity in your home. A state minimum policy can turn one bad afternoon into years of garnished paychecks.
Most households should explore 250/500/250
For years the standard advice was 100/300/100, and it's still far better than the minimum. But medical and repair costs have climbed, and the price difference to go higher is surprisingly small. Today, most Minnesota households should at least price out 250/500/250 — $250,000 per person, $500,000 per accident, and $250,000 of property damage.
Here's the part that surprises people: raising liability limits is one of the cheapest things on your policy. The first dollars of coverage are the most likely to be used, so insurers charge the most for them. Each step up costs far less than the last. Moving from 100/300 to 250/500 often adds only a modest amount per year — frequently less than you'd save by raising a deductible or bundling — while it can double or triple the protection between your family and a lawsuit.
State minimum | Common choice | Smart upgradeRecommended | Maximum + umbrella | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Limits (BI / PD) | 30/60/10 | 100/300/100 | 250/500/250 | 500/500 + $1M umbrella |
| Per-person bodily injury | $30,000 | $100,000 | $250,000 | $500,000+ |
| Property damage | $10,000 | $100,000 | $250,000 | $250,000 |
| Covers a serious ICU stay | No | Usually | Yes | Yes |
| Covers hitting a $100k+ vehicle | No | Borderline | Yes | Yes |
| Relative cost | Lowest | Low | Modestly more | Highest |
| Protects home & wages | Barely | Better | Strongly | Best |
Don't ignore property damage liability
Bodily injury gets the attention, but property damage liability — the part that pays for the other vehicle and property you damage — is where Minnesota's $10,000 minimum looks almost absurd today. You can't replace a wrecked economy car for $10,000, never mind what's actually sharing the road with you.
New vehicles are expensive, and the high end is genuinely eye-watering. A serious at-fault crash that totals a luxury SUV or a high-line truck can blow straight past a $100,000 property-damage limit — and you'd owe the difference. Vehicles with a base MSRP over $100,000 are no longer exotic unicorns; you pass them on I-394 and Highway 100 every day:
- Mercedes-Benz GLS / Maybach GLS — full-size luxury SUVs that climb well past $100k as equipped.
- BMW X7 / Alpina XB7 — the Alpina version starts north of $140k.
- Range Rover (full size) and Range Rover SV — easily $100k–$200k+.
- Cadillac Escalade-V — the high-performance Escalade lists around $150k.
- Porsche Cayenne Turbo / Panamera — routinely $130k+ optioned.
- Tesla Model S Plaid — a six-figure electric sedan.
- GMC Hummer EV / Rivian R1S high trims — six-figure trucks and SUVs.
- Audi RS e-tron GT, Lucid Air — six-figure EVs increasingly common in the Twin Cities.
Total one of those — or hit several vehicles in a chain-reaction crash — and $100,000 of property damage may not be enough. That's why this tool raises your recommended PD limit to $250,000 when you tell it you might realistically damage a high-value vehicle. The extra coverage costs little; the gap, if you need it, is yours to pay.