Minimum car insurance requirements in California

California requires every driver to carry proof of financial responsibility before getting behind the wheel, and for almost everyone that means a liability insurance policy. The dollar amounts changed substantially in 2025, the penalties for skipping coverage are specific, and the state runs its own low-cost policy for drivers who can't afford a standard one. Here's what actually applies if you're insuring a car in California, or trying to figure out where you or the other driver stood after a crash.

California's minimum liability limits

As of January 1, 2025, California requires liability coverage of at least $30,000 for injury or death to one person, $60,000 total for two or more people hurt in the same crash, and $15,000 for property damage, commonly written as 30/60/15.¹ Those figures replaced a set of limits, 15/30/5, that had gone unchanged since 1967, so the increase reflects almost six decades of medical and repair cost inflation catching up at once. The statute already schedules the next jump too: the minimums rise again to 50/100/25, effective January 1, 2035.¹

These are floors, not targets. Nothing in the Vehicle Code caps what you can be sued for after a crash you caused. California places no statutory limit on compensatory damages, economic or non-economic, in an ordinary car accident case. The one damages cap on the books, under the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act, applies only to medical malpractice claims against health care providers, not to crash liability.² A driver carrying the state minimum can be personally responsible for whatever a $30,000 policy doesn't cover.

Proving you're covered

You have to show evidence of financial responsibility whenever a peace officer asks, typically during a traffic stop or at the scene of a crash.³ Since an amendment that took effect January 1, 2023, that evidence can be shown on a phone; a paper card isn't required anymore.³ An officer can't pull you over solely to check whether you're insured, so the request has to piggyback on some other stop.³

California also verifies insurance through the DMV directly. If the DMV doesn't get electronic confirmation of your coverage from your insurer, it will suspend the vehicle's registration, and you can't legally drive or park it on a public street until the problem is cleared up.⁴

What happens if you don't have it

Driving without evidence of financial responsibility is an infraction under Vehicle Code Section 16029. A first conviction carries a fine of $100 to $200, before penalty assessments are added on top; a second conviction within three years runs $200 to $500, also before assessments.⁵ Courts have discretion, not an obligation, to have the vehicle impounded on top of the fine.⁵ None of that touches the civil side of a crash: if you hurt someone while uninsured, you're still liable for the full extent of their damages, you just won't have an insurer paying on your behalf. Anyone sorting out fault or damages after a crash can find help through the legal directory.

Ways to satisfy the requirement without buying a policy

A standard insurance policy isn't the only route to legal financial responsibility, though it's the one almost everyone uses. California also accepts a DMV-issued certificate of self-insurance, a $75,000 cash deposit held by the department, or a $75,000 surety bond from a company licensed to do business in the state.⁶ That deposit and bond figure isn't arbitrary: it matches the $60,000 per-accident bodily injury limit plus the $15,000 property damage limit under the current minimums, up from $35,000 before 2025, and it's set to rise again to $125,000 once the 2035 limits take effect.⁷ In practice, self-insurance mostly shows up with large fleets and rental companies; state and local government vehicles can qualify the same way.⁶

Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage

The 30/60/15 minimum only covers what you owe someone else. It says nothing about what happens if the other driver is uninsured or carries too little to pay for what they caused. California doesn't force you to buy uninsured or underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage, but it forces every insurer to offer it on every liability policy sold in the state. The only way to end up without it is to reject it in writing.⁸ If you've never signed that kind of waiver, there's a decent chance you're already carrying UM/UIM without realizing it. It's worth checking a declarations page before assuming the state minimum is all that's available.

No mandatory medical payments coverage

Unlike no-fault states, California doesn't require anyone to carry personal injury protection or medical payments coverage. The only compulsory piece is liability insurance for the injury or damage you cause to someone else.⁹ Medical payments (MedPay) coverage exists as an optional add-on that pays your own medical bills regardless of fault, but nothing in the Vehicle Code requires an insurer to offer it, and there's no statutory deadline for using it. First-party medical coverage has to be bought separately; it doesn't come bundled with the state-mandated policy.

The Low Cost Auto program

Drivers who can't afford a standard policy have a state-run alternative. The California Low Cost Automobile Insurance Program is open to anyone with a valid California license, a vehicle worth $25,000 or less, household income at or below 250% of the federal poverty level, and a clean recent driving record, generally no more than one at-fault property-damage accident or moving violation in the past three years, and no felony or misdemeanor Vehicle Code convictions.¹⁰ The tradeoff is lower coverage: a policy issued under the program is statutorily set at $10,000 per person, $20,000 per accident, and $3,000 in property damage, well below the general state minimum.¹¹ Applications run through the program's official site at mylowcostauto.com or by phone at (866) 602-8861.¹²

Reporting a crash to the DMV

Carrying insurance and reporting a crash are two separate obligations. Any driver in a collision that causes injury, death, or more than $1,000 in property damage, including damage to your own car, has to file form SR-1 with the DMV within 10 days, regardless of fault and whether police showed up.¹³ Skipping it can cost you your license: the DMV can suspend a driver's license for failing to report a qualifying crash.¹³ That's a different obligation from getting a copy of the police collision report itself, which in California usually means requesting a CHP Form 190 from the agency that responded; see our California crash report guide for that process.

Why the minimum rarely covers a real crash

A $30,000 bodily injury limit doesn't stretch far against a modern hospital bill. A short ER visit, imaging, and one night's stay can burn through it before surgery or physical therapy even start, and California places no cap on what an injured person can recover in an ordinary negligence case.² That gap is exactly what UM/UIM coverage and higher liability limits exist to close, and it's why an agent's "minimum" quote and a driver's actual risk are two different numbers. Anyone hurt by a driver carrying only the state minimum may still have other coverage to draw on, including their own UM/UIM policy, and an attorney listed in the legal directory can help sort out what applies.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

California Vehicle Code Section 16056, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=VEH&sectionNum=16056.
California Civil Code Section 3333.2 (MICRA, as amended by AB 35), https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&sectionNum=3333.2.
California Vehicle Code Section 16028, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=16028.&lawCode=VEH
California DMV, Insurance Requirements for Vehicle Registration, https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/vehicle-registration/insurance-requirements/
California Vehicle Code Section 16029, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=16029.&lawCode=VEH
California Vehicle Code Section 16021, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=16021.&lawCode=VEH
California Vehicle Code Section 16054.2, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=16054.2.&lawCode=VEH
California Insurance Code Section 11580.2, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=11580.2&lawCode=INS
California Vehicle Code Section 16056 (compulsory liability insurance only), https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=VEH&sectionNum=16056.
California Insurance Code Section 11629.73 (Low Cost Automobile Insurance Program eligibility), https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=INS&sectionNum=11629.73.
California Insurance Code Section 11629.71 (Low Cost Automobile Insurance Program coverage limits), https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=INS&sectionNum=11629.71.
California Low Cost Automobile Insurance Program, https://www.mylowcostauto.com/
California Vehicle Code Section 16000 (SR-1 accident report), https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=16000.&lawCode=VEH

Minimum Car Insurance Requirements in California