A serious car accident feels like your life has been derailed and sent into a new, unanticipated direction. It’s common to feel overwhelmed while recovering from painful injuries, dealing with a temporary or permanent loss of income, and suffering from the emotional trauma of the accident. Unfortunately, sometimes the challenges after a car accident in California become magnified when an injury victim discovers that the driver responsible for their accident is uninsured. A troubling 15.4% of motorists lack insurance coverage, according to a 2023 study.
After an accident caused by an uninsured motorist, an insurance policy that includes uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage is highly beneficial, but does California require this important coverage?
What Is the Minimum Required Auto Insurance In California?
Beginning in January 2025, California introduced new minimum insurance coverage requirements for drivers to keep pace with the rising cost of medical care for car accident injuries. The new requirements under California SB-1107 are as follows:
- $30,000 per person for bodily injury liability coverage
- $60,000 in bodily injury coverage per accident
- $15,000 in property damage coverage per accident
All California drivers must carry at least this required minimum or place a cash deposit of $35,000 with the DMV instead of carrying liability insurance.
In addition to the legally required minimum coverage or deposit, California strongly recommends that drivers carry uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. Not only must all insurance providers offer this coverage, but if a driver chooses not to carry it, they must sign a waiver.
What Damages Are Covered By California’s Required Auto Insurance?
Car accidents often cause extensive injury damages, especially with today’s high costs for medical care. Common damages in Los Angeles car accident claims include the following:
- Past and future medical expenses
- Out-of-pocket expenses
- Past and future income loss
- Diminished earning ability due to disability
- Compensation for pain and suffering
- Catastrophic injury damages (in some cases), such as loss of limb, disfigurement, loss of vision, hearing loss, organ loss, or diminished quality of life
In some cases, car accidents cause fatal injury. When this occurs, a close family member can recover compensation through a wrongful death claim against the at-fault party’s insurance.
How Does My Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage Work After an Accident?
An alarming number of California drivers lack auto insurance completely, and the vast majority of insured drivers carry only the required minimum liability coverage. If you are involved in an accident with an uninsured driver, you can file a claim against your uninsured motorist policy if you’ve chosen to keep this beneficial coverage as part of your policy. Uninsured motorist coverage provides at least the same coverage required as the standard minimum. A Los Angeles uninsured/underinsured motorist accident attorney from our firm can guide you through the legal process of filing a claim.
An uninsured/underinsured motorist policy also provides coverage for policyholders who suffer severe losses in an accident, with damages that exceed the at-fault driver’s minimum insurance coverage. In other words, if an accident victim’s medical expenses, lost wages, or catastrophic injury damages extend far beyond the at-fault driver’s $30,000 per person bodily injury coverage, the injury victim may file a claim for additional compensation from their own underinsured motorist policy.
