What Is a Combined Single Limit? Split, Per Occurrence, and Aggregate Limits on NEMT Policies

How a combined single limit works

The California Department of Insurance defines a combined single limit as bodily injury and property damage liability “expressed as a single sum.” Its commercial insurance guide says business auto policies commonly use one, while personal auto policies usually use split limits. It lists $500,000 and $1,000,000 as common commercial auto amounts.

The standard business auto coverage form, CA 00 01 in its 10 13 edition, shows how the cap works. Regardless of the number of covered autos, insureds, premiums paid, claims made, or vehicles involved, the most the insurer pays for all damages from any one accident is the limit on your declarations page. The insurer’s duty to defend you ends once that limit is paid out in judgments or settlements.

So with a $1 million CSL, every rider in the van, the other driver, and the damaged car all draw from the same $1 million for that crash. The next accident starts with a fresh $1 million.

Combined single limit vs split limits

Split limits give each part of a claim its own cap. The California Department of Insurance describes them as separate limits for different types of claims from one event, split per person, per occurrence, or between bodily injury and property damage. They are often written as three numbers, in thousands: 25/50/25 means $25,000 for one injured person, $50,000 for everyone injured in the accident, and $25,000 for property damage.

Louisiana shows both forms side by side. Its Medicaid managed care manual, updated May 28, 2026, accepts either split limits of $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident, and $25,000 property damage, or a combined single limit of at least $300,000.

Most the policy pays	Split 25/50/25	$300,000 CSL
For one injured rider	$25,000	$300,000
For everyone injured	$50,000	$300,000
For property damage	$25,000	$300,000
For the whole crash	$75,000	$300,000

Here is one crash with three riders hurt. Your driver is at fault, the riders’ claims come to $60,000, $20,000, and $10,000, and the other car needs $12,000 in repairs. Under 25/50/25, the first rider is capped at $25,000 and the three riders together at $50,000, so the policy pays $62,000 and leaves $40,000 of claims to your company. Under a $300,000 CSL, the whole $102,000 is paid from one limit.

Wisconsin writes its Medicaid floor in split limits too. Wis. Admin. Code DHS 105.39 requires each specialized medical vehicle to carry $250,000 per person, $500,000 per occurrence, and $10,000 property damage. ForwardHealth’s insurance checklist (F-00885, 03/2014) accepts a CSL of at least $500,000 instead and waives the separate $10,000 property amount for it. See the Wisconsin guide for the rest of that state’s rules.

Some programs switch forms by vehicle size. MART in Massachusetts (Attachment G, revised July 1, 2025) holds every vehicle to the state’s human service transportation minimum in split limits: $250,000 per person, $500,000 per occurrence, and $50,000 property damage. For program-based transportation, that split form is enough only for vehicles seating up to 5, driver included. Larger vehicles need a CSL: $500,000 for 6 to 8 seats, $1 million for 9 to 15, and $5 million for 16 or more.

Per occurrence and aggregate limits

General liability policies carry two caps. Under the standard commercial general liability form, CG 00 01 04 13, the each occurrence limit is the most the policy pays for one event. The general aggregate is the most it pays for all claims in the policy year combined, apart from products and completed operations, which have an aggregate of their own. The NAIC’s glossary describes an aggregate the same way: the most a policy pays for one loss or many during a policy period.

Say two claims land on your general liability in one policy year: one settles for $350,000, then a second for $200,000.

• At $500,000 per occurrence and $500,000 aggregate, the minimums in MTM Health’s January 1, 2023 standard agreement, the first claim leaves $150,000 for the rest of the year. The policy pays $150,000 of the second claim, and your company owes the other $50,000.
• At $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate, what Verida’s Georgia human services terms (posted September 2025) ask for, both claims are paid and $1.45 million remains.

The standard business auto form has no aggregate for liability, so each accident gets the full limit. An umbrella can top up a general liability aggregate. Verida lets one meet its $2 million aggregate, as long as the umbrella starts right where the $1 million primary limit ends. See commercial umbrella insurance.

How brokers and programs write their minimums

The same coverage gets written several ways. As of October 2026:

Program	Auto liability, as written	General liability, as written
MTM Health, standard agreement (January 1, 2023)	$500,000 combined single limit	$500,000 per occurrence, $500,000 general aggregate
MTM Health, Wisconsin page	$1,000,000 combined single limit	$1,000,000 combined single limit
MTM Health, Missouri page	No less than $2 million	No less than $2 million
Texas Medicaid health plans (UMCM 16.4, version 2.0.1)	$750,000 CSL for bodily injury per person, per accident, and damage	$1,000,000 each occurrence, $2,000,000 aggregate
Verida, Georgia human services (September 2025)	$3 million CSL for 15 seats or fewer, $5 million above 15	$1 million per occurrence, $2 million aggregate
WellTrans, Indiana (October 16, 2025)	$1,500,000 per accident, or the local taxi amount if higher	$1,000,000 per incident
Hamilton County, Ohio (RFP KB05-25R, December 2025)	Combined single loss limits of $1 million per accident for 6 or fewer occupants, $5 million above 6	$2 million per occurrence

The ACORD 25 certificate shows a CSL as one amount per accident, in the box labeled “Combined single limit (Ea accident).” So a single per accident figure with no per-person amount, like WellTrans’s, reads most naturally as a CSL. A bare amount like Missouri’s “$2 million each” leaves open which box it means. Confirm either kind in writing.

For every coverage each program asks for, see NEMT insurance requirements. The Verida in Georgia and WellTrans pages cover the rest of those contracts.

How to read your policy against a broker’s minimum

1. Find your limits. On the ACORD 25 certificate of insurance, the auto row has four boxes: combined single limit (each accident), bodily injury per person, bodily injury per accident, and property damage per accident. A CSL policy fills the first box; a split policy fills the other three.
2. Match the form the contract uses. If a program writes split limits and you carry a CSL, ask whether it accepts one, and at what amount. Louisiana and Wisconsin Medicaid say so outright.
3. Check both general liability numbers. Compare the each occurrence and general aggregate amounts with the contract. The certificate also shows whether the aggregate applies per policy, per project, or per location.
4. Check which vehicles the limit covers. MTM’s standard agreement covers “any and all vehicles used,” and Verida’s Georgia terms cover owned, hired, and non-owned vehicles. Your commercial auto symbols and hired and non-owned auto coverage decide this.
5. Remember that limits are shared and can shrink. Every additional insured draws from the same limit, and the ACORD 25 warns that limits shown may have been reduced by paid claims.
6. Get the answer in writing. When a broker’s wording leaves room, email provider relations and keep the reply with your credentialing file.

Riders carried for pay across a state line bring a federal floor of $1.5 million for a vehicle seating 15 or fewer, proved with the MCS-90B endorsement.