What Is the Difference Between Personal Injury and Bodily Injury?

Personal injury and bodily injury are related terms, but they are not always interchangeable. “Personal injury” usually describes a category of civil law involving harm caused by another person or organisation. Examples include car accidents, unsafe property, defective products, and medical negligence. “Bodily injury” more specifically describes physical injury to the body and is commonly used in auto and liability insurance policies. Bodily injury liability coverage may pay compensation when an insured is legally responsible for physically injuring someone else. Insurance contracts can also use “personal injury” in a specialised way to describe certain non-physical wrongs, such as defamation, invasion of privacy, or false arrest. The precise distinction therefore depends on context. In an accident claim, reviewing the actual policy definitions is important because coverage, exclusions, and limits can depend on how the insurer defines each term rather than on ordinary conversational usage.