If you live in California, one of the most important questions when buying auto insurance isn’t just “How much does it cost?” It’s:
“If I cause a serious accident, do I have enough insurance to protect my income, home, savings, and other assets?”
At Starwest Insurance Services, we regularly review policies where people have been insured for years but have surprisingly low liability limits. The policy may satisfy California’s legal requirements, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it provides enough protection for the individual or family.
What Do Auto Insurance Liability Limits Mean?
You may see limits written as 100/300/50 or 250/500/100.
For example, 250/500/100 generally means:
- $250,000 Bodily Injury per person
- $500,000 Bodily Injury per accident
- $100,000 Property Damage per accident
Bodily injury liability can help pay covered damages when you’re legally responsible for injuring someone in an accident. Property damage liability can help pay for covered damage you cause to another person’s vehicle or property.
Is California Minimum Auto Insurance Enough?
California requires minimum liability insurance, but minimum coverage should not automatically be confused with adequate coverage.
Consider the cost of vehicles on California roads today. If you cause an accident involving an expensive SUV, luxury vehicle, EV, or multiple vehicles, a relatively low property-damage limit could be exhausted quickly.
The same applies to bodily injury. A serious accident could involve emergency transportation, hospitalization, surgery, rehabilitation, lost income, and other damages.
Once applicable insurance limits are exhausted, you could potentially be personally responsible for amounts you legally owe above those limits.
So, How Much Liability Insurance Should I Carry?
There isn’t one limit that’s appropriate for everyone. Your insurance agent should consider your income, assets, homeownership, household drivers, vehicles, and overall financial situation.
For many established homeowners and professionals, we often recommend considering at least:
250/500/100
That’s:
$250,000 per person / $500,000 per accident for Bodily Injury Liability + $100,000 Property Damage Liability.
For someone with substantial assets or income, even these limits may not be enough. That’s where a personal umbrella policy becomes important.
Don’t Forget Uninsured & Underinsured Motorist Coverage
This is one of the coverages we pay particular attention to when reviewing a client’s auto policy.
Liability insurance primarily protects you against covered claims when you’re responsible for injuring someone else.
Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM) coverage can protect insured persons when an at-fault driver has no insurance or doesn’t carry enough insurance, subject to the terms of the policy.
If you’re carrying 250/500 liability, we generally recommend considering 250/500 UM/UIM as well.
Why carry substantial insurance to protect other people but very little coverage for yourself and your family?
What About Comprehensive and Collision Deductibles?
Higher liability limits are only part of a properly structured auto policy.
For vehicles where carrying physical damage coverage makes sense, many clients choose:
| Coverage | A Strong Starting Point to Consider |
|---|---|
| Bodily Injury Liability | $250K / $500K |
| Property Damage Liability | $100K |
| Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist | $250K / $500K |
| Comprehensive Deductible | $500–$1,000 |
| Collision Deductible | $500–$1,000 |
| Personal Umbrella | $1 Million+ |
These aren’t universal recommendations. Your appropriate limits and deductibles depend on your individual circumstances and the requirements of your insurer.
Do Homeowners Need Higher Auto Insurance Limits?
If you own a home, have savings or investments, earn a substantial income, own a business, or work in a professional occupation, protecting yourself against a major liability claim becomes especially important.
Someone with assets has more at stake than simply repairing their car after an accident.
That’s why we often recommend higher underlying liability limits together with a personal umbrella policy.
What Is Umbrella Insurance?
A personal umbrella policy provides an additional layer of liability protection above certain underlying policies, commonly including your auto and homeowners insurance, subject to the umbrella policy’s terms, exclusions, and required underlying limits.
For example, someone might carry:
Auto: 250/500/100
Home: Higher personal liability limits
Umbrella: $1,000,000
Higher umbrella limits such as $2 million, $3 million, $5 million or more may also be appropriate depending on assets and exposures.
Umbrella insurers generally require you to maintain specified minimum liability limits on the underlying policies.
Can an Umbrella Cover Uninsured Motorist Claims?
Some umbrella insurers offer Excess Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage, but this isn’t automatically included with every umbrella policy.
When available, it’s worth discussing with your agent.
For example, an insured could potentially have 250/500 UM/UIM on the underlying auto policy plus $1 million of excess UM/UIM coverage, subject to the policies’ terms and limits.
That can create a substantially different protection strategy than carrying only low UM/UIM limits.
Cheap Auto Insurance Isn’t Always Better Auto Insurance
Saving money is important. But comparing insurance based only on the premium can be a costly mistake.
A policy that’s $300 cheaper per year isn’t necessarily a better deal if you’re giving up hundreds of thousands of dollars in liability or UM/UIM protection.
When we compare auto insurance at Starwest Insurance Services, we look at both:
Premium AND coverage.
Sometimes we can improve coverage while still lowering the premium, particularly when we can bundle auto and homeowners insurance with the same carrier.
Have Starwest Review Your Auto Insurance
Not sure whether you’re carrying enough insurance?
Starwest Insurance Services can review your existing auto policy and explain what you actually have before recommending changes.
We can help you evaluate:
Auto Insurance • Home Insurance • Umbrella Insurance • Uninsured Motorist Coverage • Multi-Policy Discounts
Serving drivers and homeowners throughout Orange County and California, including Anaheim, Westminster, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Garden Grove, Fountain Valley, Cypress, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach and surrounding communities.
Insurance Made Easy.
Starwest Insurance Services, LLC
Call, text, email, or visit our office to have us review your current coverage.
Coverage recommendations are general information only. Appropriate insurance limits vary by individual circumstances. Coverage is subject to the terms, conditions, exclusions, underwriting requirements, and limits of the policy issued by the insurance carrier.