25/50/25 is not a plan: what state-minimum coverage actually buys

The state-minimum policy exists to make you legal, not to make you whole. Ohio requires $25,000 of bodily-injury coverage per person, $50,000 per accident, and $25,000 for property damage — numbers set in 2013, when the average new car cost $31,000 and a night in an ICU billed far less than it does today.

Run the collision you hope never happens: you’re at fault, two people in the other car go to the ER, and their SUV is totaled. The medical bills alone can clear $50,000 before anyone talks about lost wages — and everything above your limits comes from you, garnishable and durable. The uncomfortable truth is that minimum-limit policies mostly protect people with nothing to lose.

The fix costs less than people assume. Because higher limits are priced on the carrier’s full curve, stepping from 25/50 to 100/300 often adds only $15–30 a month — and quoting it across a full carrier panel frequently finds the higher limits cheaper than the minimum quote you already had. Ask to see both numbers side by side. Any agent who won’t show you is telling you something.

This article is general information, not insurance advice for your specific situation. Talk to a licensed advisor about your own limits — with us or with anyone.