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Personal liability coverage: what it means

Personal liability coverage is the part of your homeowners insurance that pays when you are legally responsible for someone else getting hurt or for damaging someone else's property. According to the Texas Department of Insurance, it pays that person's medical bills, lost wages and other costs, and your court costs if you are sued because of an accident.

In Spanish it is

Seguro de responsabilidad civil (liability)

Also written as: liability coverage · liability insurance · personal liability

Verified on October 17, 2026

1 official source

See the whole dictionary

The full explanation

Condominium, townhouse and mobile home policies also include it. The coverage has a limit; if you want more, you can buy a separate umbrella liability policy.

An example

A friend of Andrés falls on the stairs at his home and gets hurt. If Andrés is legally responsible, the personal liability coverage in his policy can pay the friend's medical bills, up to the policy limit.

You will see it in…

The declarations page of your homeowners policy, with your coverages and limits
Condominium, townhouse and mobile home policies
Offers for umbrella policies

Words that go with it

You will rarely see this word alone. These are the ones that show up with it on the same papers.

Still confused by a paper?

A HUD-approved housing counselor can walk you through it. Agencies usually charge little or nothing, many work in Spanish, and they do not sell you anything.

What a housing counselor does See free help

Official sources

We sum up what these official sources say, in plain words. We add no rules they do not state; when a rule changes, the definition and its date change.

1. Texas Department of Insurance · Home insurance guide (external site) · in English · Verified on October 17, 2026