California law requires you to maintain bodily injury liability insurance in case you injure someone in a car accident. It pays the other party’s
- medical bills,
- lost wages,
- lost earning capacity, and
- other damages from physical injuries,
up to your policy limit.
In California, you must carry a minimum of “15/30” bodily injury liability. This means that for any single accident, your auto insurance will cover up to:
- $15,000 for wrongful death or bodily injury of one person; or
- $30,000 for wrongful death or bodily liability of all people hurt or killed in the accident
You are personally liable for damages not covered by your liability insurance. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you purchase policies with higher limits than the state minimum limits if you can afford them.
To help you better understand bodily injury liability insurance, our California personal injury lawyers discuss the following, below:
- What is not covered?
- When does liability insurance kick in?
- How much do I need?
- When do I make a claim?
- What if I was partially at fault?
- When do I need a lawyer?
- Additional Reading
You may also wish to review our article, 15 Steps to Take After a Car Accident in California.
You are required to have motor vehicle insurance of at least the minimum amount allowed by state law.
What is not covered?
Damages in Excess of Policy Limits
Bodily injury liability insurance will pay damages up to the limits of the policy. If you are at fault for an accident, you are personally liable for any amounts in excess of this limit.1
Car Repair Bills and Other Property Damage
Bodily injury liability insurance does not cover car repair bills or damages to other property, such as fences or gates. You are required by law to carry at least $5,000 of property damage liability insurance (“collision coverage”) in addition to bodily liability insurance to cover such losses.2
Note that “comprehensive coverage” covers car damage resulting from things other than crashes, such as vandalism. It can also reimburse you if your car gets stolen.
Your Injuries
Liability insurance is a form of third-party insurance that covers damages sustained by
- pedestrians or
- people in other vehicles
in an accident you cause. It does not cover your own injuries. Depending on your policy, it may not cover your passengers either.
When does liability insurance kick in?
Your bodily injury insurance kicks in when:
- You are driving your vehicle and cause an accident;
- Someone other than you drives your vehicle with your permission and causes an accident; or
- You are driving another vehicle (like a rental vehicle) and cause an accident.6
Auto coverage lenders tend to give good drivers lower insurance rates than drivers with past accidents on their driving record.
How much do I need?
If you have few assets and a low income, you may be alright with California’s minimum liability insurance of 15/30.3 CarInsurance.com recommends the following policy limits as a guide:
- 50/100: Best if you have few assets, do not drive much, and are on a tight budget — for instance college students and retirees.
- 100/300: Appropriate if you are a middle-income earner with a typical level of savings.
- 250/500: Best if you own a home or have significant assets or savings.
You may also wish to purchase a California personal umbrella insurance policy to extend your protection by $1 million or more. An umbrella policy is relatively inexpensive and provides extra insurance for all policies of insurance (not just auto liability) which you maintain at the maximum available limit.
Costs of Bodily Injury Insurance
Insurance can run from the low hundreds to more than a thousand per policy period. The price of your policy depends on many things, such as:
- your age
- your driving history
- your vehicle
- the age of your vehicle
- whether you had lapsed insurance in the past (which will raise your premium)
Insurers may not take your credit score into account when deciding your premium.
When do I make a claim?
Most policies of insurance also contain the obligation to notify them promptly if you are involved in an accident. Once the insurance company receives notice, it will assign a claims adjuster.
The claims adjuster will investigate the accident to determine who was at fault. During the investigation the adjuster may:
- Take your statement;
- Speak to the other driver (or more likely the other driver’s insurance adjuster or lawyer);
- Review police reports (if any);
- Speak to witnesses;
- Inspect the damaged vehicles and accident scene or photos; and/or
- Review medical records of anyone claiming injuries.
You must drive with both your driver’s license and proof of insurance that meets minimum liability coverage requirements.
What if I was partially at fault?
Under California’s “shared fault” / “comparative negligence” law, blame for an accident can be apportioned to more than one party.9 Even if you share part of the blame, you still could be entitled to recover some of your own damages, such as your
- medical bills or
- lost wages or
- the cost of repairing your car.
Having an experienced California injury lawyer can help ensure that you are assigned the least blame possible.
When do I need a lawyer?
An insurance adjuster’s only job is to keep the insurance company’s costs down. This can mean denying or delaying your claim in the hope that you will simply go away. Or the adjuster will pressure you to accept less than your claim is worth.
Hiring your own lawyer is the best way to ensure that YOUR interests are protected. An experienced California accident lawyer will:
- independently investigate the accident and
- fight for your interests.
If you need medical care, your lawyer will help you find it. Your lawyer will also make sure that your settlement agreement is not just boilerplate that protects the insurance company’s interests at the expense of your own.
Additional Reading
For more in-depth information, refer to these scholarly articles:
- When Bodily Injury Limits are Stacked Jurisprudential Consistency Topples – Illinois University Law Journal.
- Determining the Scope of Bodily Injury or Property Damage under the Comprehensive General Liability Policy – Idaho Law Review.
- Costly State Falsification or Verification? Theory and Evidence from Bodily Injury Liability Claims – Automobile Insurance: Road Safety, New Drivers, Risks, Insurance Fraud and Regulation.
- Litigation Patterns in Automobile Bodily Injury Claims 1977–1997: Effects of Time and Tort Reforms – Journal of Risk and Insurance.
- Periodic Payments of Bodily Injury Awards – American Bar Association Journal.
Legal references:
- California Insurance Code §11580.1b. Auto Insurance Requirements, California DMV. Losses included in bodily injury liability coverage can include (but are not limited to): Ambulance costs; Emergency room charges; Doctor’s bills and other medical expenses; Hospital bills and other medical payments; Chiropractor bills; Physical or occupational therapy; X-rays and MRIs; Short- or long-term care (such as home health aides); Prosthetics; Dental expenses resulting from broken teeth; and Funeral expenses. What does Car Insurance Cover? Nerdwallet.com. See also 21st Century Ins. Co. v. Superior Court (, 2015) .
- See note 1. Several types of insurance may be available to pay for injuries sustained by you or your passengers: Your personal health insurance (no matter who was at fault); the other driver’s bodily injury liability insurance (if the other driver was wholly or partially at fault); optional Med Pay insurance (no matter who was fault); and optional uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage if the other driver is underinsured or uninsured and is wholly or partially at fault).
- See, for example, Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975) 13 Cal.3rd 804. See also California Vehicle Code 16000 VC.