Compare Liability Car Insurance: Rates, Discounts, & Requirements [2024]

What is liability car insurance? If you cause an accident, liability car insurance pays for the other parties’ medical and property damage bills. With a few exceptions, all states require a minimum amount of liability car insurance coverage to drive. Drivers caught driving without car insurance face fines, a suspended license, and more.

Rates for liability insurance vary based on location, driving profile, and demographics, so it’s important to research and use car insurance comparison charts to find affordable rates for you. Continue reading to learn more about the liability car insurance definition and compare liability auto insurance quotes.

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What Liability Car Insurance Covers 

What does liability insurance cover? Liability auto insurance consists of two parts: bodily injury liability insurance and property damage liability insurance. Depending on your state, one or both liability insurance coverages may be required. 

Bodily Injury Liability Car Insurance 

What is liability insurance for bodily injuries? Bodily injury liability insurance coverage pays the medical bills if you cause an accident that injures other people. Typically, bodily injury liability insurance covers the following:

• Medical expenses 
• Rehab expenses 
• Lost wages 
• Funeral costs 

If someone needs more extensive therapy to recover or can’t work after the accident, bodily injury liability insurance helps pay the bills up to the policy’s limit.

Property Damage Liability Car Insurance 

Property damage liability insurance works the same as bodily injury liability insurance, but instead of paying for medical bills, it pays for property damage. So if you’re responsible for an accident that damages another’s vehicle or property, such as crashing into their fence, property damage liability insurance pays the bills up to the policy limits.

In general, liability insurance for both coverages may also help pay for some of your legal fees if you get sued after an accident you caused. However, you’ll need higher liability limits to apply coverage toward legal fees if you cause a major accident.

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What Liability Car Insurance Doesn’t Cover 

There are many things that liability insurance doesn’t cover. Liability insurance coverage is intended simply to pay for other parties’ accident costs if you’re responsible for a car accident. So, you’re unprotected in many ways. Liability insurance won’t pay for the following: 

• Expenses beyond your liability policy’s limit: Liability auto insurance only covers bills up to your policy’s maximum limit.
• You or your passengers’ medical bills: Liability insurance only covers the medical bills of other parties. You might wonder, “Does car insurance cover passengers in my vehicle?” If it’s a liability-only policy, the answer is no.
• Your vehicle repairs: Liability insurance only covers repairs to the other parties’ vehicles, not yours. 

Carrying only liability car insurance can be a huge financial risk unless your vehicle isn’t worth much, and you wouldn’t suffer financially if it got totaled. You should also consider higher liability car insurance coverage limits than your state requires since you’re responsible for expenses exceeding your insurance’s limits. 

Read more: Does car insurance cover passengers?

Other Optional Car Insurance Coverages

Since liability insurance doesn’t offer complete financial protection to drivers, some of the other auto insurance coverages that drivers should consider carrying include: 

• Collision insurance: Regardless of who caused the accident, collision car insurance pays for your car repairs if you crash into another vehicle or a stationary object like a fence post or mailbox. 
• Comprehensive insurance: Comprehensive car insurance pays for your car repairs if you crash into an animal or your car gets damaged by weather, vandalism, theft, or falling objects. 
• Medical payments: Medical payments covers your and your passengers’ medical bills after an accident, such as ambulance rides and hospital visits.
• Personal injury protection: Personal injury protection is similar to medical payments. Alongside paying off your and your passengers’ medical bills, personal injury protection helps with lost wages, child care, and more after the accident if a person has a longer recovery.

Some states require medical payments and personal injury protection, so you might need these coverages in addition to your liability insurance. No states require collision and comprehensive insurance, but your lender will likely require them if you have a car loan or lease. 

Even if not required, we recommend carrying collision and comprehensive insurance on your vehicle as part of a full coverage car insurance policy. Otherwise, in any accident you cause, you’ll pay for any repairs yourself. If you can’t pay for a new car or expensive repairs out of pocket, paying extra each month for collision and comprehensive auto insurance is well worth it.

Liability Car Insurance Requirements

Drivers in the United States must carry the liability insurance coverage their state requires. The minimum car insurance required by each state differs, but most require liability. Some states allow drivers to opt out of carrying liability car insurance. However, these drivers must prove they can pay for other drivers’ medical and property damage bills.

However, if you have a lease or loan on your vehicle, your lender will likely require you to carry the state’s minimum liability insurance instead of opting out of coverage.

Below is a full list of the auto liability coverages and amounts that each state requires:

Car Insurance Liability Requirements by State

Read more:

• Compare New Hampshire Car Insurance Rates
• Compare South Dakota Car Insurance Rates

Most states don’t require a high amount of liability insurance, so it’s usually beneficial to purchase a higher limit of liability insurance than what is required. You can check the amount required in your state by checking the list in the previous section, looking online at the Department of Motor Vehicles, or asking your insurance company.

However, remember that required liability amounts don’t always offer adequate coverage. Often, the liability amounts are so low that they only cover minor damage and repairs. If you cause a significant amount of damage, you’ll still be financially responsible for a large sum if your low amount of liability insurance runs out.

For example, if your state only requires you to carry $5,000 of property damage liability insurance, you’ll be under-protected. If you cause an accident that totals someone’s car worth $20,000, you must pay the remaining $15,000 yourself. If you can’t pay the remaining amount, the other driver may sue you for the remaining funds.

Therefore, consider how much you can pay out of pocket after an accident. For example, if you could only afford $5,000 out of pocket, you should choose a higher liability limit.

Liability Car Insurance Rates Comparison

The average cost of minimum liability car insurance is $44 monthly. However, your actual rate depends on your state, vehicle, driving record, and more. For example, if you need car insurance after a DUI, average rates cost triple the national average.

In addition, you’ll pay higher rates if you need more coverage, so it’s vital to determine whether you need liability car insurance vs. full coverage.

Finding the cheapest liability insurance involves shopping around and comparing quotes. Since rates vary so much among drivers, the only way to know the cheapest car insurance companies is to compare rates based on your driving record.

In addition to getting quotes, you can use the following tips to try and save on the cost of a liability insurance policy:

• Apply for discounts. There may be car insurance discounts available that you must apply for, such as safe driving discounts, which can save you money on your auto insurance rates.
• Choose a cheaper car to insure. Some cars are significantly cheaper to insure than others. When shopping for a new car, you should look for one with good safety ratings and replacement parts that are easy to find and cheap.
• Keep a clean driving record. Since traffic tickets, DUIs, and at-fault accidents increase auto insurance rates drastically, keeping a clean driving record keeps your liability car insurance rates low. 

Since liability insurance is a requirement, you’re stuck paying for it no matter what. However, following the above tips can help you reduce your liability auto insurance rates so you can purchase more coverage if desired.

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Understanding More About Liability Car Insurance Coverage

Almost every driver in the U.S. must purchase a liability car insurance policy. Not carrying a state’s required liability insurance will result in fines, loss of driving privileges, and other penalties. However, it’s possible to find affordable liability car insurance coverage.

One of the best ways to save on liability auto insurance costs is to shop around online for quotes from different auto insurance companies.

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