What is a Combined Single Limit (CSL) Policy?

Auto insurance policies are typically broken up into two distinct types of coverage. There is usually coverage available for damage to property such as collision coverage and property damage coverage, and there also is coverage available to injury such as personal injury protection, bodily injury coverage, and Commercial Liability Coverage. Furthermore, injury coverage is usually broken up to cover up to a certain amount of damage per person and occurrence. For example, if a bodily injury policy is listed as $10,000/$20,000, it means that there is coverage available to compensate for injuries for any person up to $10,000 or a maximum of $20,000 per accident. In essence, if more than two people are injured in an accident and pursuing claims for damages against the at-fault party’s Bodily Injury coverage, those injured parties will only be able to recover up to the total of coverage per occurrence ($20,000 in the above example).

Often, commercial insurance carriers write policies that group all damages, both property, and injury, into one level of coverage called a combined single limit (CSL) policy. In that instance, the coverage will be listed as a single amount, $500,000 for example, and all claims for damage to property and injuries will be made against the CSL coverage. IT IS IMPORTANT to understand, that under this coverage, the amount is a total for all parties affected by the accident. Consider this hypothetical situation:

Five people are driving to work in five separate vehicles. As they are proceeding in traffic, a speeding tractor trailer loses control and hits all five vehicles causing injuries and damage to all vehicle and drivers. As it turns out, the tractor trailer is owned by a company that carriers insurance with a $300,000 Combined Single Limit policy. If all five drivers pursue claims against the tractor trailer’s insurance company and are successful in proving the truck driver’s negligence, all claims for damage to property and injuries will be paid from the $300,000 CSL policy.

What is the CSL policy is not enough to cover all damages and injuries? This is a very real possibility. In multi-vehicle accidents, often there are several parties pursuing the same amount of limited coverage. Consider the hypothetical above if all five drivers were carrying two passengers each. Now there are 15 people pursuing claims for injuries against a single CSL policy. Considering that all five will probably have separate attorneys, it solidifies our instance that you seek out experienced, professional representation for your claim.

How do I know if the tractor trailer that hit me has a CSL Policy? Call Dan Newlin Injury Attorneys at 800-257-1822: One of the fundamental issues in any personal injury case is the availability of coverage. For tractor-trailer accidents, this is especially important, as they tend to cause catastrophic damage to property and traumatic injuries. Our attorneys examine every aspect of all available insurance policies to determine the levels of pursuable coverage. Insurance policies tend to be overloaded with complex legal language that can only be deciphered by an experienced attorney. REMEMBER! All of our legal assistance in determining if coverage is available is done under our No Fee Guarantee, which assures that you pay us nothing unless we win your case. Just one of many reasons people agree that Dan Newlin is the best Florida semi truck accident attorney.