Study: 35 states cap the minimum injury coverage at $25,000 — and Florida requires none at all
FastAutoQuote read the minimum-coverage law for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, taken from each state's statute and insurance department. The finding: in most of the country, the legal minimum is a small fraction of what a serious crash actually costs — and in one state, you can drive legally with no bodily-injury coverage at all.
The finding
- 35 states + DC set the minimum bodily-injury limit at just $25,000 per injured person (the "25/50" floor) — the single most common minimum in the country.
- Florida requires no bodily-injury liability at all for standard vehicle registration — only $10,000 of personal-injury protection and $10,000 of property damage. A Florida driver can be fully legal carrying zero coverage for injuries they cause to others.
- The lowest bodily-injury floors are Florida ($0 required), then Pennsylvania and Louisiana at $15,000 per person.
- The floor is rising — but slowly. California doubled its minimum to 30/60/15 on January 1, 2025 — its first increase since 1967 — and Virginia rose to 50/100/25. Yet 35 states plus DC remain at $25,000.
- The highest minimum is North Carolina's 50/100/50.
Why it matters
A minimum-limits policy is a legal floor, not a safety net. A single serious injury routinely generates medical bills well beyond $25,000 — and far beyond Florida's $10,000 PIP — leaving a minimum-limit driver personally on the hook for everything above their limit after an at-fault crash. The gap is widest exactly where the floors are lowest and haven't moved in decades. For most drivers, the premium difference between a state-minimum policy and substantially higher limits is modest relative to the personal exposure it removes.
Expert commentary
“Drivers hear 'full coverage' and 'state minimum' and assume the minimum is a reasonable amount of protection. It isn't — it's the least the law will allow, and in most states it hasn't kept up with the real cost of an injury. If you cause a serious accident on a 25/50 policy, your coverage can be exhausted in a single ER visit and the injured party can come after your assets for the rest. Buying up to 100/300 usually costs far less than people expect for how much exposure it closes.”
Methodology
We compiled the current minimum liability requirement for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia directly from each state's statute and insurance-department guidance — the same primary sources behind our state-by-state requirements cluster, each page reviewed by a licensed P&C agent. Minimums change when a legislature acts (California and Virginia both raised theirs effective 2025), so figures are current as of publication. Full method: our methodology.
Cite this study
Journalists and researchers are welcome to cite this analysis with attribution. We can point you to the exact statute or department source for any state. Suggested citation:
FastAutoQuote, “35 states cap the minimum injury coverage at $25,000” (2026), analysis of minimum liability requirements across all 50 states and DC.
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