California Insurance Requirements
Minimum liability coverage required to drive legally, plus uninsured-motorist and SR-22 rules.
- Insurance required?
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yes
- Min bodily injury: per person
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$30,000
- Min bodily injury: per accident
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$60,000
- Min property damage
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$15,000
- Min personal injury protection (no-fault states)
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California is an at-fault (tort) state, not a no-fault state, so it does not set a minimum personal-injury-protection (PIP) coverage. The 2025 handbook lists only liability minimums, $30,000 per person, $60,000 per accident, and $15,000 for property damage, and imposes no PIP floor. Drivers may still buy medical-payments or PIP-style coverage from a private insurer, but no statutory minimum applies.
- Uninsured-motorist coverage required?
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no
- SR-22 trigger
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California requires an SR 22 (or SR 1P) certificate of financial responsibility in three main circumstances the handbook flags: after a DUI conviction, as part of the reinstatement package alongside DUI-program completion and any reissue fees; after being involved in a collision without proper insurance coverage, where the driver's privilege is suspended for up to four years and the license may be reinstated in the last three years of the suspension only if an SR 22 or SR 1P is on file and maintained for the full three-year window; and at the end of any DMV suspension or revocation as part of the proof-of-financial-responsibility requirement for a replacement driver's license. The SR 22 is a statement from a California-licensed insurer certifying the driver carries at least the state's minimum liability coverage.
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