The Same Accident at 30/60/15, 50/100/25 and 100/300/50

Limit choices are usually made in the abstract, as three numbers on a quote. This page makes them concrete by holding one accident constant and changing only the policy. The claim values are illustrations, not predictions; the arithmetic is exactly how the limits work.

The crash

You run a red light and hit a car with two people in it. The driver is seriously hurt, with a claim valued at $100,000. The passenger's claim is $25,000. Their car is a total loss valued at $30,000. Nobody else is involved.

What each policy pays

Reading the table

• The per-person limit did the damage. In this crash the binding number at every level is the first one, because one person was badly hurt. The per-accident figure never came into play.
• The passenger was paid in full at every level. Smaller claims fit under any limit; it is the serious one that separates the policies.
• Property damage moved in steps too. A $30,000 car is twice the minimum property limit, and the gap closes only at the highest level shown.

Change one fact and the answer changes

Add a third injured person with a $35,000 claim. At 30/60/15 the per-person caps would allow $30,000 for the driver, $25,000 for the passenger and $30,000 for the third person, which together exceed the $60,000 per-accident limit, so the pool would be divided and more would be left with you. At 100/300/50, all three claims would fit. Multi-person crashes are where the middle number starts to matter.

Why 50/100/25 is in this table

Vehicle Code 16430 and 16056 schedule the minimum to rise to exactly these figures for policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2035. Today it is an option; later it becomes the floor. Our page on the 2035 increase has the timeline.

What the table does not show

• Price. The step from one column to the next often costs less than the change in the numbers suggests, because few claims reach the upper layers; see why raising limits costs less. Your own figure depends on your record, mileage, vehicle and carrier.
• Defense. Higher limits generally keep the insurer defending you longer, because the defense obligation is normally tied to the limits.
• Your own car and your own injuries, which liability limits never cover at any level.

Myth and fact

Myth: "Higher limits only matter in a catastrophe."
Fact: The example above is one serious injury and one totaled car, an ordinary bad day on a busy road.

To put real prices in each column for your own situation, request quotes at more than one limit level here.