Non-owner liability insurance: minimum limits in every state
Non-owner liability insurance pays for the harm you do to others when you drive a car you don't own. Every state and DC sets its own minimum, listed here with the law it comes from.
- 25/50/25the most common minimum, used in 19 states
- 15/30/5the lowest, in Pennsylvania
- 50/100/50the highest, in North Carolina
The three numbers are thousands of dollars: per person hurt, per crash, and for property damage.
Non-owner liability insurance is liability coverage for people who drive but own no car, written to at least your state's minimum limits. Most states set that minimum as three amounts (injuries per person, injuries per accident, property damage), and some also require PIP or uninsured motorist coverage, or require that it be offered. When you injure a person or wreck something of theirs, it pays those costs up to the limits your state requires, or higher limits if you pick them. Liability coverage does not pay for repairs to the car you drove.
What does liability pay for?
If you cause a crash, this coverage pays to fix the other driver's vehicle, as the Texas Department of Insurance explains. The word liability just means you are legally on the hook for harm done to someone else.
Every policy has a cap on what it will pay. That cap is called a limit, and each state decides the smallest limit it will allow.
State minimum liability limits
Every state lists its minimum as three figures, in thousands of dollars: harm to one person, harm to everyone in a single accident, and damage to someone else's property. The state-by-state table gives the general auto minimums from each state's law. How each one applies to a non-owner policy can differ, which the note column explains.
Minimum car insurance requirements by state
| State | Liability minimum | Fault system | Law | Other required coverage | Note | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 25/50/25 | At-fault | Code of Ala. 1975, Section 32-7-6 | ||||
| Alaska | 50/100/25 | At-fault | Alaska Stat. 28.22.101 | ||||
| Arizona | 25/50/15 | At-fault | Ariz. Rev. Stat. 28-4009 | ||||
| Arkansas | 25/50/25 | Must be offered; a driver may decline it in writing | Included unless rejected in writing | At-fault | Arkansas Insurance Department, auto insurance brochure | ||
| California | 30/60/15 | At-fault | Cal. Veh. Code 16056 | Up from 15/30/5 for new and renewing policies starting January 1, 2025. | |||
| Colorado | 25/50/15 | Medical payments of $5,000 included unless rejected | Included unless rejected in writing | Included unless rejected in writing | At-fault | Colorado Division of Insurance, auto insurance | |
| Connecticut | 25/50/25 | Required, at least the liability minimums | Required, at least the liability minimums | At-fault | Conn. Gen. Stat. 14-112; 38a-336 | ||
| Delaware | 25/50/10 | Required: $15,000 a person, $30,000 a crash | At-fault | 21 Del. C. 2902; 2118 | The operator's policy section of this law covers a named person driving cars they do not own. | ||
| District of Columbia | 25/50/10 | Must be offered (optional) | Required, at least 25/50 and $5,000 property damage | Must be offered | No-fault | D.C. Code 31-2406 | |
| Florida | 10 property only | Required, $10,000 | No-fault | Fla. Stat. 324.022; 627.736 | Florida sets no bodily injury minimum for most drivers; they must carry $10,000 of PIP plus $10,000 for property damage. | ||
| Georgia | 25/50/25 | At-fault | Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance, auto | ||||
| Hawaii | 40/80/20 | Must be offered | Must be offered | No-fault | Haw. Rev. Stat. 431:10C-301 | ||
| Idaho | 25/50/15 | At-fault | Idaho Code 49-117; 49-1212 | Idaho law describes an operator's policy that insures a named person on cars they do not own. | |||
| Illinois | 25/50/20 | At-fault | 625 ILCS 5/7-203 | ||||
| Indiana | 25/50/25 | Included unless rejected in writing; at least 25/50 and $25,000 property damage | Included unless rejected in writing; at least $50,000 | At-fault | Indiana BMV, proof of financial responsibility | ||
| Iowa | 20/40/15 | At-fault | Iowa Code 321A.21 | Iowa law describes an operator's policy that insures a named person on cars they do not own. | |||
| Kansas | 25/50/25 | Required | No-fault | Kan. Stat. 40-3107 | |||
| Kentucky | 25/50/25 | Required (basic reparation benefits) | No-fault | Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, mandatory insurance (KRS 304.39) | A single limit of $60,000 also meets the law. | ||
| Louisiana | 15/30/25 | At-fault | Louisiana Department of Insurance, consumer's guide to auto insurance | ||||
| Maine | 50/100/25 | Medical payments of $2,000 required | At-fault | 29-A M.R.S. 1605 | |||
| Maryland | 30/60/15 | Required unless waived | Required | At-fault | Md. Transp. Code 17-103 | ||
| Massachusetts | 25/50/30 | Required, $8,000 | No-fault | Mass. Gen. Laws c. 90, 34A; 34O | Up to 25/50/30 for new and renewing policies starting July 1, 2025. | ||
| Michigan | 50/100/10 | Required; you choose the medical limit | No-fault | Mich. Comp. Laws 500.3009; 500.3107c | The default is 250/500; 50/100 is the lowest you can buy, by signing a form. | ||
| Minnesota | 30/60/10 | Required (basic economic loss benefits) | Required, at least 25/50 | Required, at least 25/50 | No-fault | Minn. Stat. 65B.49 | |
| Mississippi | 25/50/25 | At-fault | Mississippi Insurance Department, auto insurance | ||||
| Missouri | 25/50/25 | At-fault | Mo. Rev. Stat. 303.190 | Missouri law describes an operator's policy that insures a named person on cars they do not own. | |||
| Montana | 25/50/20 | At-fault | Mont. Code 61-6-103 | Montana law describes an operator's policy that insures a named person on cars they do not own. | |||
| Nebraska | 25/50/25 | At-fault | Neb. Rev. Stat. 60-310 | ||||
| Nevada | 25/50/20 | At-fault | Nevada DMV, insurance requirements (NRS 485) | ||||
| New Hampshire | 25/50/25 | At-fault | N.H. Rev. Stat. 259:61 | These are the amounts a New Hampshire liability policy must carry. | |||
| New Jersey | 35/70/25 | Required, $15,000 | Available on the Standard Policy; not on the Basic Policy | Available on the Standard Policy; not on the Basic Policy | No-fault | N.J. Department of Banking and Insurance, Standard and Basic policy | Standard Policy minimums. The lower-cost Basic Policy carries $5,000 property damage and $15,000 PIP, with bodily injury only as a $10,000 option. |
| New Mexico | 25/50/10 | At-fault | New Mexico MVD, insurance | ||||
| New York | 25/50/10 | No-fault | N.Y. Veh. & Traf. Law 311 | The per-person and per-accident limits rise to $50,000 and $100,000 when the injury causes death. | |||
| North Carolina | 50/100/50 | Required | Required | At-fault | N.C. Gen. Stat. 20-279.21 (NCDMV insurance requirements) | Up from 30/60/25 for new and renewing policies after July 1, 2025. | |
| North Dakota | 25/50/25 | No-fault | N.D. Cent. Code 39-16.1-11 | North Dakota law describes an operator's policy that insures a named person on cars they do not own. | |||
| Ohio | 25/50/25 | At-fault | Ohio BMV, financial responsibility notice (form 3135) | ||||
| Oklahoma | 25/50/25 | At-fault | Oklahoma Insurance Department, auto insurance | ||||
| Oregon | 25/50/20 | At-fault | Or. Rev. Stat. 806.070 | ||||
| Pennsylvania | 15/30/5 | Medical benefits of $5,000 required | No-fault | PennDOT insurance overview; Pa. Insurance Department (75 Pa.C.S. Ch. 17) | |||
| Rhode Island | 25/50/25 | At-fault | R.I. Gen. Laws 31-47-2 | A single limit of $75,000 also meets the law. | |||
| South Carolina | 25/50/25 | Required, at least 25/50 and $25,000 property damage | At-fault | S.C. Code 38-77-140; 38-77-150 | South Carolina law counts a nonowner automobile policy as an automobile insurance policy. | ||
| South Dakota | 25/50/25 | At-fault | S.D. Codified Laws 32-35-70 | ||||
| Tennessee | 25/50/25 | At-fault | Tennessee Department of Revenue, Drive Insured Tennessee | ||||
| Texas | 30/60/25 | Included unless rejected in writing | Must be offered; a driver may decline it in writing | Must be offered; a driver may decline it in writing | At-fault | Texas Department of Insurance, auto insurance guide | The Texas Department of Insurance names a nonowner liability policy for people who borrow cars often; it pays others, not your own injuries or the car. |
| Utah | 30/65/25 | No-fault | Utah Code 31A-22-304 | Applies to new and renewing policies starting January 1, 2025; a $90,000 single limit also meets the law. | |||
| Vermont | 25/50/10 | At-fault | 23 V.S.A. 800 | ||||
| Virginia | 50/100/25 | At-fault | Va. Code 46.2-472 | Up from 30/60/20 for policies that take effect from January 1, 2025. | |||
| Washington | 25/50/10 | At-fault | Rev. Code Wash. 46.29.090 | ||||
| West Virginia | 25/50/25 | At-fault | W. Va. Code 17D-4-2 | ||||
| Wisconsin | 25/50/10 | Medical payments of $1,000 required | Required, at least 25/50 | Must be offered; at least 50/100 if accepted | At-fault | Wis. Stat. 344.33; 632.32 | |
| Wyoming | 25/50/20 | At-fault | Wyo. Stat. 31-9-102 | ||||
Download the table as CSV. Source: state minimum liability limits compiled by nonowner-car-insurance.com from each state's statute; reuse with credit (CC BY 4.0).
What the three numbers mean
Take Texas, where the minimum is 30/60/25. A policy like that pays as much as $30,000 toward one person's injuries, as much as $60,000 for all the injuries in a single accident, and as much as $25,000 for property belonging to others.
Every state follows this same order. Number one is for one hurt person, number two is for everyone hurt in the wreck, and number three is for the vehicles and belongings you damage.
The car you are driving
Damage to the vehicle in your hands is not covered by a non-owner policy, according to insurance.com. It pays for the other people's injuries and property, not for repairs to the car you borrowed or rented.
So if the car you're driving gets damaged, the repair has to come from somewhere else, such as the owner's policy, which is worth checking before you borrow or rent.
Paying after the owner's policy
A non-owner policy counts as secondary coverage. Secondary means it only pays once the vehicle owner's own insurance has paid up to its limits.
So say you borrow a friend's car and cause an accident. The friend's policy gets used first. Then your non-owner policy picks up what remains, up to the limits you chose.
How this table was made: we read each state's statute or insurance department page once and link it on the row. The minimums are a legal floor, not a recommendation, and they are the general auto rules, so confirm with the company how they apply to your non-owner policy.
A non-owner policy usually pays after the car owner's own coverage; the named non-owner policy page explains how the two stack.
Questions people ask
Does non-owner insurance cover anything besides liability?
This kind of policy is mainly liability coverage. Coverage for your own injuries, like personal injury protection or medical payments, comes along only where state law says it must, so whether you receive it depends on the state you live in.
How much does a minimum-coverage non-owner policy typically cost?
Nationwide, the average comes to $506 a year, which works out to $42 a month. The insurance.com rate study produced that number for a 40-year-old driver who has a clean record and good credit; your own state could land well above or below it.
How do I get a quote?
Call the phone line on this page, where a licensed insurance agent goes through how you drive for free and reads you quotes from several companies, or send the short quote form and an agent will call you back. The site itself does not sell or quote insurance.
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