What is Liability Car Insurance?
- Liability car insurance covers injuries and damage you cause to others.
- Liability does not cover injuries or damage to you or your own car.
- Auto liability is required by law in almost every state.
What is liability car insurance?
Liability car insurance pays for injuries and damage to others, up to your policy’s limits, when you’re at fault in an accident.
Almost every state requires auto liability insurance in some form. This includes states with no-fault insurance laws
Liability does not cover damage to your car or your own injuries. You need full coverage to protect against damage to your own car, and other coverage options are available for your injuries.
How much does liability car insurance cost?
Liability car insurance with minimum limits costs an average of $68 a month, or $816 a year. However, the costs vary by state. For example, drivers pay an average of just $27 a month in Wyoming, versus $147 a month in Nevada.
Factors like your driving record, age and vehicle also affect your liability car insurance rate. Each company treats these factors differently, and their rates vary by customer. Comparing car insurance quotes helps you find the cheapest rate for your situation.
Auto liability costs by state
| State | Liability rate |
|---|---|
| Alabama | $59 |
| Alaska | $48 |
| Arizona | $82 |
| Arkansas | $59 |
| California | $69 |
| Colorado | $78 |
| Connecticut | $128 |
| Delaware | $116 |
| Florida | $87 |
| Georgia | $68 |
| Hawaii | $46 |
| Idaho | $45 |
| Illinois | $61 |
| Indiana | $53 |
| Iowa | $36 |
| Kansas | $64 |
| Kentucky | $84 |
| Louisiana | $94 |
| Maine | $43 |
| Maryland | $84 |
| Massachusetts | $70 |
| Michigan | $78 |
| Minnesota | $68 |
| Mississippi | $59 |
| Missouri | $70 |
| Montana | $46 |
| Nebraska | $48 |
| Nevada | $147 |
| New Hampshire | $50 |
| New Jersey | $119 |
| New Mexico | $66 |
| New York | $92 |
| North Carolina | $60 |
| North Dakota | $43 |
| Ohio | $48 |
| Oklahoma | $55 |
| Oregon | $86 |
| Pennsylvania | $56 |
| Rhode Island | $94 |
| South Carolina | $66 |
| South Dakota | $31 |
| Tennessee | $53 |
| Texas | $79 |
| Utah | $90 |
| Vermont | $35 |
| Virginia | $67 |
| Washington | $71 |
| Washington, D.C. | $95 |
| West Virginia | $56 |
| Wisconsin | $41 |
| Wyoming | $27 |
What does liability car insurance cover?
Liability car insurance covers a victim’s treatment for bodily injury and repairs for property damage.
Bodily injury liability
Bodily injury liability can cover a range of expenses for an accident victim’s care, including:
- Emergency medical treatment
- Doctor visits
- Physical therapy / rehabilitation
- Lost wages
- Funeral expenses
- Pain and suffering for a victim or their survivors
Property damage liability
Property damage liability typically covers damage you cause to other people’s property, including:
- Car repairs or car replacement for the other driver(s)
- A rental car while their vehicle is unavailable
- Personal belongings damaged in other people’s vehicles
- Repairs to damaged objects like a fence or parking meter
Liability auto insurance usually also covers the legal costs of defending you over a liability claim. These can get very expensive if the claim leads to a lawsuit.
What does liability insurance not cover?
Liability does not cover damage to your own medical bills or car repairs. However, additional coverage options are available for each of these.
For example, collision
- Uninsured motorist covers injuries to you and your passengers caused by a driver without insurance. It’s required by law in about 20 states.
- Underinsured motorist covers your costs when an at-fault driver doesn’t have enough insurance.
- Personal injury protection (PIP) covers injuries to you and your passengers, no matter who caused the accident. It usually also covers lost wages and other expenses related to your recovery. PIP is required in more than 15 states.
- Medical payments (MedPay) covers injuries to you and your passengers, regardless of fault. It usually doesn’t cover lost wages or other expenses like PIP does.
How much auto liability insurance do I need?
It’s generally good to get enough auto liability insurance to protect your own property.
If a victim’s expenses are more than your liability limits, you can be held personally responsible for the shortfall. This could force you to drain your savings. You could even have your wages garnished or see a lien placed on your home.
Your state’s minimum liability requirements may be enough if you’re just starting out in life. However, you usually need more protection if you own a home and/or earn a high salary.
It’s good to choose bodily injury liability limits that match the combined value of your home (if you own one) and your bank accounts. If you have other investments and/or properties, you should add their value to the total, too.
For property damage liability, a $25,000 limit is a good start, but it usually doesn’t cost much to bump this up for more protection.
How do liability car insurance limits work?
Insurance companies use two different systems to set limits for your insurance:
Split limits
This is the most common. It has separate limits on how much it will pay for:
- Each person injured
- The total for all injuries in the accident
- All vehicle/property damage in the accident
For example, you might have “$50,000/$100,000/$25,000 liability coverage.” In this case:
- $50,000 is the maximum injury payment per person
- $100,000 is the maximum injury payment per accident
- $25,000 is the maximum damage payment per accident
Combined single limit (CSL)
CSL liability policies have just one limit for the entire accident. This gives you a little more wiggle room if the situation involves more car damage than what’s on a similar split limit policy, or if one person suffers serious injuries that need expensive treatment.
For example, a $50,000/$100,000/$25,000 split limit and $125,000 CSL both top out at $125,000 per accident. But with the split limits, you’re also capped at $100,000 for bodily injury and just $25,000 for property damage.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, liability insurance is available for cars you finance, lease or own. In fact, it’s required by law in almost every state. You can add other coverages like collision
Yes, you need liability insurance to drive legally in almost every state. It covers injuries and damage you may cause to other people and their property in a car accident. Without liability insurance, you would be personally responsible for a victim’s medical and car repair costs.
No, liability only covers damage you cause to other people’s cars. Collision and comprehensive cover damage to your own vehicle.
No. If someone hits you, their liability insurance covers damage to your car and injuries to you and your passengers. The amount you receive may be reduced if you are partially at fault for the accident.
Liability car insurance is required by law in every state except New Hampshire. Most New Hampshire drivers get it anyway. It covers your financial responsibility for injuries or damage you cause to others in a car accident.
Liability-only car insurance usually refers to a policy that only has liability coverage. However, liability policies include uninsured motorist
Methodology
How we obtained liability car insurance rates:
LendingTree uses insurance rate data from Quadrant Information Services using publicly sourced insurance company filings. Rates are based on an analysis of car insurance quotes for drivers with the minimum amount of coverage required by law, which varies by state. Prices are shown for comparative purposes only. Your own rates may be different.
Unless noted otherwise, quotes are for a full coverage policy for a 30-year-old man with good credit and a clean driving record who drives a 2018 Honda CR-V EX.
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