California's New Minimum Car Insurance Requirements

Before January 1, 2025, California had the following minimum auto insurance requirements:

Nearly every state in the country requires motorists to carry auto liability insurance. Liability insurance protects you financially if you are found responsible for causing injury to another person or damage to their property. Liability insurance does not cover damage to your car, but it can protect you from a hefty bill after an accident. 

Liability insurance can be broken down into two types of coverage:

Your auto insurance policy is made up of different coverages that you purchase. Although many coverage options are optional, most states require you to carry a minimum amount of liability insurance, which is referred to as your state's minimum auto insurance limit. 

These minimum limits are typically written as three numbers, such as 30/60/15. The first number represents the amount of bodily injury coverage you have per person ($30,000), the second number represents the total amount of bodily injury coverage you have per accident ($60,000), and the last number represents the total amount of property damage coverage you have per accident ($15,000). 

Liability insurance protects you financially from any injuries or damage you are responsible for after an accident. However, it will not cover any damage or injuries you sustain from the accident, even if it wasn’t your fault.

You'll need to purchase collision and comprehensive coverage to repair damage to your car after an accident. These coverages apply to your vehicle and can help cover repair or replacement costs—up to your policy’s limits—after a covered incident.

In most cases, you won’t need to take any additional steps. If you carry limits higher than the state minimums, your auto policy coverage will continue to reflect the same limits. If you have a policy with the current lower limits, your policy will renew at the new minimum limits on or after January 1, 2025, whenever your policy is up for renewal.

California was home to some of the country's lowest minimum insurance requirements for many years. With such low limits, drivers could find themselves lacking coverage if they are found responsible for an accident. To help combat this, state legislators introduced Senate Bill 1107 to help protect motorists from financial debt by increasing the state's minimum liability limits. However, remember that these new limits do not guarantee you'll be fully covered after an accident, as costs can vary depending on the amount of damage. Although these are the new minimum requirements, you can always purchase a policy with limits exceeding the state's requirements. 

If you're looking for affordable California car insurance, AIS can help. Whether you're looking for coverage for your weekend car or your daily driver, we make it simple to compare quotes from our network of trusted insurance partners in just a few clicks. Simply answer a few questions regarding the amount of coverage you'd like and our system will provide you with multiple car insurance quotes that match your needs. Ready to get started? Click here to start your quote.