No, California is not a no-fault car insurance state. It uses a fault-based system, which means the driver who causes a crash is financially responsible for the other party’s injuries and property damage, usually through their liability insurance. If someone else hits you, you pursue their insurer (or them directly) for your medical bills, lost wages, and vehicle repairs rather than filing those costs with your own company.
What a Fault-Based System Means for Your Claim
In a no-fault state, each driver’s own insurer pays their medical expenses after a crash regardless of who caused it, and the right to sue the other driver is limited. California works the other way. After a collision, insurers investigate the circumstances, review police reports and witness accounts, and assign responsibility. The at-fault driver’s liability policy then pays the other party’s medical bills, lost income, repair costs, and compensation for pain and suffering.1California Department of Insurance. Automobile Insurance Text Version
If the at-fault driver’s coverage isn’t enough, you can sue to recover the difference. You can also sue directly when the insurer disputes liability or lowballs a settlement. Most claims settle through negotiation, but the right to sue is what makes the system work.
The practical consequence for you: your own insurance company is not required to pay your medical bills after a crash. That job belongs to whoever caused it. So the coverage you choose, and the coverage the other driver carries, decides how quickly and fully you get paid.
The Liability Insurance California Requires
Every vehicle owner in California must carry liability insurance. For any policy issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2025, the minimum limits are:
- $30,000 for bodily injury or death of one person per accident
- $60,000 total for bodily injury or death of two or more people per accident
- $15,000 for property damage per accident
These 30/60/15 limits doubled the previous minimums of 15/30/5 that stood for decades. A further increase is scheduled for January 1, 2035, raising the floors to $50,000/$100,000/$25,000.2California Legislative Information. California Vehicle Code VEH 16056
Liability coverage only pays the other driver’s losses when you’re at fault. It does nothing for your own injuries or your own car.
Coverages That Fill the Gaps
Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage
California requires every auto insurer to include uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage on every policy unless the policyholder rejects it in writing.3California Legislative Information. California Insurance Code INS 11580.2 It pays for your injuries when the at-fault driver has no insurance or flees the scene. Underinsured motorist coverage, which must be offered alongside it, kicks in when the at-fault driver’s limits aren’t enough.
Rejecting this coverage is a real risk in a fault-based state. Your ability to collect depends on the other driver actually having adequate insurance. If they don’t, and you waived this coverage, you absorb the loss yourself.
Medical Payments Coverage
MedPay is optional in California. It pays your medical expenses after an accident regardless of fault, up to a chosen limit that typically runs from $1,000 to $10,000. Because California doesn’t require the personal injury protection that no-fault states do, MedPay is the closest substitute for drivers who want their own medical bills covered quickly without waiting for a liability claim to resolve.
Collision and Comprehensive Coverage
Collision coverage pays to repair or replace your own vehicle after a crash regardless of fault. Comprehensive handles non-collision damage like theft, vandalism, and weather. Neither is required by state law, though lenders and lessors almost always require both. If you own your car outright, collision is still a practical call any time replacing the vehicle out of pocket would hurt.
Partial Fault Doesn’t Bar You From Recovering
California follows a pure comparative negligence rule, so you can recover damages even if you were partly responsible for the accident.4California Legislative Information. California Civil Code CIV 1714 Your award is reduced by your share of fault.
If your total damages are $100,000 and you’re found 20% at fault, you recover $80,000. Even a driver found 90% at fault can recover 10% of their damages. Many states bar recovery once you cross 50% or 51%, but California doesn’t impose that cutoff.
Proving the other driver caused the accident is on you. That proof usually comes from police reports, witness statements, photos of the scene and vehicle damage, and medical records tying your injuries to the crash.5California Department of Insurance. So You’ve Had an Accident, What’s Next? California does not cap non-economic damages in ordinary car accident cases, so the value of a claim turns on the severity of the injuries and the strength of the evidence.
Deadlines for Filing a Lawsuit
California imposes hard time limits. For personal injury claims, you have two years from the date of the injury to sue.6California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 335.1 For property damage, the deadline is three years. Miss either and the court will almost certainly dismiss the case regardless of its merits.
These deadlines govern lawsuits, not insurance claims. File the insurance claim as soon as you can after the accident. But if negotiations stall or the insurer denies you, the statute of limitations is the hard date that controls whether a judge will still hear the case.
What Happens If You Drive Without Insurance
Driving without liability insurance in California is an infraction. A first offense carries a fine of $100 to $200, plus penalty assessments that can multiply the base fine several times over. A second offense within three years raises the fine to $200 to $500, again plus assessments.7California Legislative Information. California Vehicle Code VEH 16029 The court can also order the vehicle impounded until you show proof of insurance.
The bigger exposure is the fault system itself. Cause an accident while uninsured and the DMV can suspend your license and require an SR-22 certificate of financial responsibility for three years. Because California puts the at-fault driver on the hook for all damages, an uninsured driver who causes a serious injury crash faces personal liability for medical bills and lost wages that a basic policy would have covered.