Is California, Texas or Washington a no fault state?

Everyone is responsible for an injury caused to another person by his or her lack of ordinary care or skill.

All drivers and all owners of a motor vehicle must be able to establish financial responsibility at all times, and must carry evidence of it in the vehicle. The Vehicle Code lists who has established it. The list includes a person insured under a form of insurance or a bond that complies with the law.

The California DMV says insurance, which it also calls financial responsibility, is required on all vehicles operated or parked on California roads.

The California Department of Insurance says liability coverage helps pay for injuries or damage that you cause to others, and that it is for accidents that are your fault. It says California law requires this coverage. It also says liability coverage does not pay for injuries to you or the people in your household.

A person may not operate a motor vehicle in Texas unless financial responsibility is established for that vehicle. The statute lists five ways to establish it. The first is a motor vehicle liability insurance policy that complies with the statute. The others are a surety bond, two kinds of deposit, and self insurance.

The Texas Department of Insurance says Texas law requires drivers to show proof they can pay for the accidents they cause. It says most drivers do this by buying liability insurance, and that liability insurance pays other people’s car repairs and medical expenses when you are at fault.

No person may operate a motor vehicle that is subject to registration in Washington unless the person is insured under a motor vehicle liability policy with at least the limits the law sets. The statute lists three other ways to comply: being self insured, being covered by a certificate of deposit, or being covered by a liability bond.

The Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner says Washington requires liability coverage. It says this covers bodily injury and damage to property that you cause to others while using your car.

For a policy or bond issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2025, the minimum limits are $30,000 for bodily injury to or death of one person in any one accident, $60,000 for two or more persons, and $15,000 for damage to the property of others.

The California Department of Insurance says the state’s Low Cost Automobile Insurance Program has limits of $10,000, $20,000 and $3,000, and that these limits do satisfy state financial responsibility laws.

The minimum amounts of motor vehicle liability insurance coverage are $30,000 for bodily injury to or death of one person in one collision, $60,000 for bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in one collision, and $25,000 for damage to or destruction of property of others in one collision.

The Texas Department of Insurance calls this 30/60/25 coverage.

The limits are not less than $25,000 because of bodily injury to or death of one person in any one accident, $50,000 because of bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in any one accident, and $10,000 because of injury to or destruction of property of others in any one accident.

The California Department of Insurance lists medical payments coverage among the other coverage options commonly available for purchase. It says this coverage pays medical expenses if you or your passengers are injured, and that it can pay for immediate medical care, no matter who is at fault.

The Department says you may be offered this coverage, but you can choose not to buy it. It says the minimum limit you can buy is $1,000 for each person injured.

An insurer may not deliver or issue an automobile liability insurance policy in Texas unless it provides personal injury protection (PIP) coverage in the policy or supplemental to it. That does not apply if any insured named in the policy rejects the coverage in writing. After a rejection, the insurer need not provide PIP in a reinstated or renewal policy unless the named insured asks for it in writing.

The Texas Department of Insurance says all auto policies in Texas include PIP coverage, and that a person who does not want it must tell the company in writing.

PIP benefits are payable without regard to the fault or nonfault of the named insured or of the person receiving them in causing or contributing to the collision. The insurer must pay benefits periodically as claims arise, and not later than the 30th day after it receives satisfactory proof of a claim. The statute lists exclusions.

The statute does not require an insurer to provide PIP coverage in an amount that exceeds $2,500 for all benefits, in the aggregate, for each person. It does not prevent an insurer from providing broader benefits.

PIP covers reasonable and necessary medical and funeral costs that arise from an accident, for expenses incurred not later than the third anniversary of the accident. For a person who earns income, it also covers income lost as the result of the accident. For a person who does not, it covers essential services that person ordinarily performed for the family or household.

No new automobile liability insurance policy, and no renewal of one, may be issued unless personal injury protection (PIP) coverage is offered as an optional coverage. A named insured may reject PIP in writing. After a rejection, the insurer need not include PIP in a supplemental, renewal or replacement policy unless a named insured later asks for it in writing.

The Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner says buying PIP is your choice, and that by law your insurer must offer it. It says that if you do not reject PIP in writing, your auto insurer will add it to your policy and charge you for it.

The minimum PIP coverage an insurer must offer has these benefit limits for each insured: medical and hospital benefits of $10,000, a funeral expense benefit of $2,000, income continuation benefits of $10,000, subject to a limit of $200 per week, and loss of services benefits of $5,000, subject to a limit of $200 per week. Medical and hospital benefits are payable for expenses incurred within three years from the date of the automobile accident.

The Insurance Commissioner says PIP applies no matter who is at fault. It also says there are some situations where PIP does not apply.

The California Department of Insurance says that usually your health insurance pays for your immediate medical care.

The Department also says medical payments coverage can pay for immediate medical care, no matter who is at fault.

The Texas Department of Insurance tells a person who thinks the other driver caused the wreck that the other driver’s insurance should pay for car repair, medical bills and a rental car.

The Department also says there is no guarantee that the other driver’s insurance company will pay. It says that if you have medical bills, your personal injury protection coverage, medical payments coverage, or uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage might pay.

The Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner says PIP can help pay medical and hospital costs, and that it applies no matter who is at fault.

For a person hit by an uninsured or underinsured driver, the Insurance Commissioner says PIP can be used for injuries related to the accident. It says a person with none of the coverages it lists will need to pay their medical bills, unless they have health insurance, and can then try to get the person who caused the accident to pay them back.

California reduces your damages by your percentage of responsibility. There is no cutoff: you can recover something even if you were mostly at fault.

Texas reduces your damages by your percentage of responsibility. If you are found more than 50 percent responsible, you recover nothing.

Your share of fault reduces your damages by that percentage but does not bar your claim. One exception: an injured person who was under the influence can be barred entirely if that was a cause of the injury and they were more than 50 percent at fault.