Casualty and liability
Bodily injury
Bodily injury is physical harm to a person, including sickness or disease and, where the policy so provides, death resulting from that harm.
Reviewed September 2026 · Exam outline effective September 1, 2026
In plain English
Liability policies separate harm to people from harm to things because they are valued and defended differently. Bodily injury covers the person side: medical treatment, lost earnings, and general damages such as pain.
The policy definition controls, and definitions vary. Some forms expressly include mental anguish arising from physical injury while others do not, which is why the defined term matters more than everyday usage.
Why the exam tests it
Auto and liability questions require candidates to classify claimed harm correctly, because classification determines which limit and which coverage part respond.
The trap
Mixing bodily injury and property damage limits. They are separate coverages with separate limits, and answer choices are built from combining them.
Worked example
A collision leaves the other driver with a fractured arm and a damaged vehicle. The arm is a bodily injury claim and the vehicle is a property damage claim, each evaluated against its own limit.
Full course
Study this with the complete Texas All-Lines course
This concept is covered in depth in the "Compensatory, General & Special Damages" lesson, alongside every other topic on the content outline.
Related terms
- Property damageProperty damage in liability terms is physical injury to tangible property, including resulting loss of use, for which the insured may be legally responsible.
- Liability limitsLiability limits cap what an insurer pays for covered liability, expressed either as split limits for each person and each accident or as a single combined limit for all covered damages.
- NegligenceNegligence is the failure to exercise reasonable care, established by proving a duty, a breach of that duty, causation, and damages.
- Medical payments coverageMedical payments coverage pays reasonable medical expenses from a covered accident without regard to fault, generally up to a modest stated limit.
Compared side by side
- Occurrence vs. Claims-MadeOccurrence and claims-made are two ways of deciding which policy period answers for a liability loss. The choice matters most when the injury and the claim happen in different years.
- Bodily Injury vs. Property DamageLiability policies commonly divide covered consequences into bodily injury and property damage, each with its own definition and often its own limit. Misclassifying the harm leads to the wrong limit and the wrong analysis.
- Negligence vs. Strict LiabilityMost liability claims turn on fault, but not all of them. Negligence and strict liability represent two different theories of responsibility, and the difference determines what a claimant must prove.
- Workers' Compensation vs. LiabilityWorkplace injuries are handled through a system that works differently from ordinary liability claims. Recognizing which framework applies is essential on the casualty portion of the exam.
Exam topics using this term
- Negligence elements and liability analysis on the Texas All-Lines examThe four elements of negligence, why the exam builds fact patterns where exactly one fails, and how to test each element in order.
- Liability damages categories on the Texas All-Lines examHow the exam sorts documented economic loss, evaluative non-economic harm, and conduct-based punitive awards into three distinct categories.
- Auto liability coverage on the Texas All-Lines examHow split limits work, how bodily injury and property damage liability differ, and why the exam separates liability from first-party auto coverages.
- Personal liability coverage on the Texas All-Lines examHow the liability section of a homeowners policy responds to third-party claims, and how medical payments to others differs from liability.
- Commercial general liability fundamentals on the Texas All-Lines examHow CGL responds to premises, operations, and products exposures, and why occurrence versus claims-made determines which policy answers.
- Workers compensation fundamentals on the Texas All-Lines examWhy the no-fault structure replaces negligence analysis, and how the arising out of and in the course of employment test drives compensability.
Sources
- Pearson VUE — Texas Department of Insurance licensing exams
Scheduling, candidate handbook, content outlines, test-center rules, and application timing. Reviewed 2026-07-21.
Requirements, fees, forms, exam details, and deadlines can change. Verify the current rule with the linked authority before scheduling, applying, renewing, or handling a real claim.
For exams on or after September 1, 2026. If your exam is scheduled earlier, use the outline that applies to your exam date. Texas Exam Academy is independent exam preparation and is not affiliated with or approved by the Texas Department of Insurance or Pearson VUE. Verify current eligibility, fees, forms, and requirements with the responsible authority.