Cheapest Liability Car Insurance (2024 Guide) (2024)

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Liability car insurance covers the cost of property damage and personal injuries to another party if you’re found at fault for a car accident. Your insurance provider pays out the cost of repairs for someone else’s vehicle or the cost of medical bills if the other party is injured.

Each state sets its own legally required minimum coverage, which usually includes some form of liability insurance. Virginia and New Hampshire are the only exceptions, as neither state requires motorists to have any car insurance.

Liability Car Insurance Coverage

Coverage limits for liability insurance are indicated by three numbers. Each number represents one kind of the following types of liability coverage:

• Bodily injury liability (BI) per person: This covers medical bills, lost wages and pain-and-suffering expenses.
• Bodily injury liability per accident: This is the maximum amount of bodily injury expenses the insurance company will pay out per accident.
• Property damage liability (PD) per accident: This covers vehicle and other property damage, as well as any cleanup costs associated with the accident. If you’re sued, this also helps pay for court costs.

An example liability insurance policy could be written as 25/50/25, which would mean you’d have $25,000 in bodily injury liability coverage per person, $50,000 in bodily injury liability coverage per accident and $25,000 in property damage liability coverage per accident.

What Does Liability Car Insurance Not Cover?

Liability car insurance doesn’t cover costs for damages related to your vehicle or injuries. This is where collision insurance and medical payment or personal injury protection come in. Collision insurance covers the cost of repairs to your car. Medical payments coverage (MedPay) or personal injury protection (PIP insurance) covers your medical bills.

It’s good to note that if you aren’t deemed at fault for the accident, you and your insurance company won’t be responsible for the other person’s property damage or injuries.

Should I Get Liability-Only Car Insurance?

If you have an auto loan or lease, you’ll likely be required to maintain full-coverage car insurance. With that in mind, you should only consider liability-only car insurance if you own your vehicle outright.

You also have to remember that comprehensive and collision coverages are better deals when you own a new car. As your vehicle ages, the maximum payout you can receive for a claim declines. Once your car reaches 10 to 12 years of age and sees its total value drop below $10,000, it’s hard to justify full-coverage car insurance being a good deal.

Liability Car Insurance vs. Full-Coverage Car Insurance

A full-coverage policy typically includes state-required liability limits as well as collision coverage and comprehensive coverage. Some full-coverage policies may also include uninsured motorist coverage (UM) since some states require it.

Liability Car Insurance vs. Full-Coverage Car Insurance Costs

Liability-only car insurance often has the cheapest rates in the industry — especially over full coverage. This is because liability coverage doesn’t provide as many types of protection. Here’s a look at how average annual estimates for both types of coverage compare:

As you can see, it’s not uncommon for liability-only car insurance to cost 60% less than a full-coverage policy. The most important thing is getting what you pay for, seeing as a full-coverage car insurance policy offers significantly more protection than liability coverage does.

Here are a few things that aren’t covered when you opt for liability-only car insurance:

• Damage to your vehicle from an at-fault accident
• Damage to your vehicle from a hit-and-run incident (if you don’t have uninsured motorist coverage)
• Damage from vandalism and theft
• Damage from environmental dangers such as hail and tornadoes
• Damage from hitting an animal with your car

When calculating auto insurance quotes, insurance companies take a look at several factors to estimate what you’ll pay.

Here are some items that have a major influence on your car insurance rates:

• Location: Drivers in areas with high rates of theft, vandalism and car accidents tend to pay more for car insurance.
• Age: Insurers consider young drivers a higher risk than drivers with more experience, which is why teen drivers’ insurance usually costs more.
• Driving record: If you have a history of safe driving, you’ll likely pay less for insurance. Drivers with speeding tickets or DUI convictions often pay much more for coverage.
• Credit history: Insurance providers view drivers with higher credit scores as less likely to file claims than those with poor credit, so drivers with good credit pay lower insurance premiums in most states.
• Gender: Women tend to get into fewer accidents and have fewer traffic violations than men, so they often pay less for coverage in most states.
• Marital status: Married drivers have an easier time finding low-cost auto insurance than single drivers because they’re considered safer drivers and more financially stable.
• Vehicle details: Insurers charge higher rates for cars that are more expensive, cost more to repair after accidents and are more likely to be stolen. A vehicle’s safety record also plays a part in determining insurance costs.
• Coverage options: Your car insurance rates are affected by the type of car insurance you get, the amount of coverage you purchase and the deductible you select.

To find more affordable car insurance, you can work to raise your credit score and avoid traffic violations. We also recommend asking your provider about any available car insurance discounts. Some providers offer discounts to good drivers or to policyholders who bundle their car insurance with homeowners or renters insurance. Discounts for good students and members of various professional organizations are also common.

The cheapest liability car insurance is usually the minimum coverage level your state requires for you to legally drive. Each state sets its own requirements, so the cost of liability-only insurance varies from state to state. We recommend gathering quotes from at least three providers in your search for the right policy for your needs.

Cheapest Liability-Only Car Insurance: Recommended Providers

If you plan to buy a liability-only car insurance policy, it’s worth looking at policies offered by USAA and Erie Insurance.

Because consumers rely on us to provide objective and accurate information, we created a comprehensive rating system to formulate our rankings of the best car insurance companies. We collected data on dozens of auto insurance providers to grade the companies on a wide range of ranking factors. The end result was an overall rating for each provider, with the insurers that scored the most points topping the list.

Here are the factors our ratings take into account:

• Coverage (30% of total score): Companies that offer a variety of choices for insurance coverage are more likely to meet consumer needs.
• Cost and Discounts (25% of total score): Auto insurance rate estimates generated by Quadrant Information Services and discount opportunities are both taken into consideration.
• Industry Standing (20% of total score): Our research team considers market share, ratings from industry experts and years in business when giving this score.
• Customer Experience (15% of total score): This score is based on volume of complaints reported by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and customer satisfaction ratings reported by J.D. Power. We also consider the responsiveness, friendliness and helpfulness of each insurance company’s customer service team based on our own shopper analysis.
• Availability (10% of total score): Auto insurance companies with greater state availability and few eligibility requirements score highest in this category.

Our credentials:

• 800 hours researched
• 130+ companies reviewed
• 8,500+ consumers surveyed

*Data accurate at time of publication.